Victoria Strauss has an excellent article on self-publishing vs vanity publishing and she answered some of my long standing questions about my own effort to re-issue my books myself. There's a lot going on that blurs the distinctions between vanity and self-publishing. Language is being cheapened by this. Good words are going bad as the nasties try to make themselves look like the ...

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... — “We’ll show them!”. I didn’t put this on Victoria’s blog, because I didn’t think I had the time, but now that I decided to blow this up ... resembles a spoilt child. But, then again, I’m just an epub author, so what do I know? THIS JUST TO HAND: Victoria Strauss has another post up, with the reaction to Horizons from the Mystery Writers of America. ...

... definition I had been using, this would make it a vanity publisher. Another example: Lulu. Says Victoria: “Anything over and above manufacturing costs, i.e., profit, ... -publishing companies want to make money,” Victoria says. “It makes perfect sense that they’d ... “vanity” is just an insult.” Victoria Strauss agrees: “There are no standard definitions, ...

At the SFWA blog, Victoria Strauss posted an article for Writer Beware about virtual author assistants (VAAs). VAAs have taken ... according to the course web site, enables them to: ...work behind the scenes to create, organize and coordinate all the different pieces necessary to get a book published. See Victoria Strauss' analysis of virtual author assistants certification for more information. ...

... ;s also a couple of opinions being thrown around. Kat Meyer, for example, asks whether aspiring authors and readers are truly at risk. Victoria Strauss also asks why the big fuss over Harlequin Horizons, and not ... a partnership with Xlibris, and there was no public outcry then (or at least not as loud as this one). And Victoria Strauss asks why industry people commend West Bow Press ...

Jessica Faust wrote about Licensing Your Rights and Fixing a Stalled Career. Victoria Strauss wrote Rights and Copyright. Kristin Nelson wrote Why I Don’t Like Net Amounts Received. Janet Reid posted Notes from the Effective Query class at SCWW. Rachelle Gardner wrote Giving Your Characters Life and Foreshadowing vs. Telegraphing.

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Some blog posts and articles that piqued my interest over the past few weeks. Inspired by a silly piece by writer Jeff Rivera on GalleyCat, in which he, the owner of a self-publishing service, and an anonymous author question the usefulness of literary agents, agent Miriam Goderich of Dystel & Goderich provides an eloquent ...

... queries for agents to make sure that they conform to their guidelines and genres of interest before the agent sees them. Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware sums up the mixed history of these types of ventures. I won't be signing up, but all you have to do is take a look at Jessica Faust's rapturous post about her query holiday to ...

Overzealous Is Your Middle Name (Which Makes You Just Like Most Authors) from Editorial Anonymous Humor from Mystery Writing is Murder The Inciting Event and Your World - Revisited from TalkToYoUniverse Agent Inbox by Victoria Strauss, from Writer Beware Fragments and Run-ons - Acceptable or Not Acceptable? That is the Question! from Writer's Corner

... a little bit grander." Sarah Palin's book tour stop brings Oprah Winfrey her highest ratings in two years. Writing industry watchdog Victoria Strauss compares self-publishing options from West Bow Press and Harlequin Horizons. What would happen if James Joyce and Jane Austen wrote comic strips? The NY Times ...

... writers whose work doesn't yet meet their standards to a vanity publisher where packages start at $599. (I'm taking my figures directly from Victoria Strauss here - I don't have time to follow the links, and there's more in the comments) I've posted fairly recently about the vanity publishing model. The benefits are ...

The Writer Beware! page sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has a wonderful new post by Victoria Strauss. It's worth a read: In fact, Writer Beware! is always worth following. It's hard getting published, and lots of scammers know how much we long for that validation of seeing your names in print.

This week another major publisher, Harlequin, announced their entry into the self-publishing business. The blogs have lit up over it and there's a lot of interesting reading out there. I think Victoria Strauss gave a great overview on the Writer Beware blog (here.) I have to admit that the idea of all these ...

... . It goes directly into the trash and you've used up your first publishing rights. Harlequin should and DOES know better.) Be aware of what's out there. Don't make a bad decision based on a name. Victoria Strauss has some excellent posts up on Writer Beware here about this topic. Just be careful out there.