Writer Beware’s Victoria Strauss analyzes Harlequin Horizons and the trouble it presents for authors.

This is a followup to my post on Thomas Nelson’s new self-publishing division, West Bow Press–specifically, on Nelson’s plans to pay referral fees to agents and others who refer writers to West Bow.

As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Nelson, a major independent Christian publisher, is adding a self-publishing line to its business.

Imagine you’re a new writer. You’ve just completed your first manuscript, and are on fire to get it published. You don’t know a lot about the publishing world, or how to identify a good publisher for your book–but that’s okay. You have the Internet. So you open a search engine–Google, let’s say–and type “publishers” into […]

Page updated/links checked 12/28/23 Copyright Registration and Timestamp Services Manuscript Pitch Websites/Electronic Slush Piles Pre-Publication Publicity Query and Submission Services Publicists Marketing and Promotion Paid Book Reviews Vanity Radio and TV Book Fair Display Bookstores and Paid Shelf Space Enormous numbers of people are writing and trying to publish books. This vast universe of aspiring […]

Page updated/links checked: 2/22/2025 Overview: The Evolution of Self-Publishing Issues to Consider The Challenges of Print Self-Publishing or Traditional Publishing? Bad Reasons to Choose Self-Publishing Cautions A Special Warning: Publishing Scams From Overseas Resources Overview: The Evolution of Self-Publishing * Until relatively recently, if you wanted to self-publish, you faced a labor-intensive and costly process. […]

by Catherine Tavares Editor’s note: This piece is part of an occasional series titled Writing by Other Means, in which authors share personal experiences and industry intel around different production contexts and writing tools. It’s spring 2023. My desk is clean, my laptop on and humming along like a charm. It’s open to a brand new Scrivener […]

by A.D. Sui Editor’s note: This piece is part of a rolling series, Writing from History, in which creators share professional insights related to the work of using historical elements in fictional prose. In early 2024, I was going through the editorial process for my short story “Svitla,” featured in Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from […]

by Ira Nayman Early in my short-story writing career, I received a delightful email from an anthology editor who had accepted one of my works. “The hard part is over,” she wrote. “Your story has been accepted. Compared to this, editing will be easy.” What did this editor mean? If a magazine gets 200 submissions […]

by Carrie Finch Editor’s note: This piece is part of an occasional series titled Writing by Other Means, in which authors share personal experiences and industry intel around different production contexts and writing tools. Painters have brush and canvas. Dancers have mirrors and marley floors. Musicians have their instruments and the loving maintenance they require. […]