Tag: publishing

Evaluating Illustration Thumbnails

Easter, Sunshine, and Thumbnails: who could ask for anything more? This beautiful, sunny Easter weekend was made even more enthralling when my illustrator sent me the complete set of thumbnails for Bertrand the Bashful Bumblebee—my next children’s book, on track to be released this… Continue Reading “Evaluating Illustration Thumbnails”

Empowering a Young Author

photo of people near wooden table

It’s not every day an author contacts you asking you to write a commentary for the inside of their book. It’s even less frequent that the author is sixteen. Well, I have the privilege of introducing to you a young author whose book is… Continue Reading “Empowering a Young Author”

Publishing: When an Author gets down to Business

abundance bank banking banknotes

Any aspiring author will one day come face-to-face with a formidable opponent: that opponent is called logistics. All right, you’ve written your book. You’ve revised the heck out of it. Maybe you’ve even found an illustrator. And now…? If the honeymoon phase with your… Continue Reading “Publishing: When an Author gets down to Business”

The Exile: The Story behind the Story

Recently a contact from my alma mater reached out to interview me about The Exile, my first published novel. Fellow Hillsdale College alumna Gianna Marchese, the Editor in Chief of the Student Stories Blog and the college’s Social Media Coordinator, took the time to… Continue Reading “The Exile: The Story behind the Story”

A Writer's List of Virtues

Everyone has a theory of what it takes to be a successful writer. That’s all well and good, but first we have to define “success,” don’t we? I mean, one person may churn out melodramatic teenage vampire novels, while another compiles decades of life… Continue Reading “A Writer's List of Virtues”

Perfectionism and Publishing

If any writer knows that revision is necessary, then he also knows the final product will be imperfect. “Final” draft does not mean “perfect” draft. This becomes especially (nay, painfully) clear when you see one of your works in print. Take it from me—I… Continue Reading “Perfectionism and Publishing”

The Package that took Six and a Half Years

Here, at the end of a six and a half year long process, the developed, revised, completed product of my mind had been delivered to my doorstep by a person I never got to thank—enclosed neatly between a two-sided cover.