K. Marvin Bruce

Being published because you’ve managed to string some words together and bought a publisher’s interest with your money doesn’t make you an author.   I once read that Donald Trump has written more books than any other president.   Really?   A functional illiterate is an author? We struggling writers know better.   Writing is a lifestyle, an outlook on life.   We carry around notebooks, slips of paper, or electronic devices that are crammed with thoughts and observations.   We spend quite time either scribbling or typing.   We create meaning. Books are a commodity.   There was shock in the publishing community when an Amazon spokesperson referred to books as simply another form of merchandise some years back.   Publishers blanched.   Books are so much more than paper and ink.   They are miniature universes, cheap.   Anyone can afford to be a god of a secondhand cosmos. Trump has been famous for many years and famous ...

It must’ve been about a year and a half ago when I discovered Duotrope.  Before that I found literary magazines on the Poet & Writer website.  Everyone wants you to read their magazines to figure out what they like, and that makes sense.  I work full-time, however, and can’t read everything. I love to read, but the working writer faces some unique challenges.  I’m still seeking a publisher for Boeotian Rhapsody, and the other day on Duotrope I found a publisher that wanted authors to submit a marketing plan for their books along with the manuscript.  At least they were very clear—we’re not going to publish unless you do the selling. One of my best friends works in publishing (non-fiction, unfortunately).  I sometimes ask him about this.  Are authors supposed to market their own books? Well, this blog is one answer to that question.  Yes, even established publishers with full staffs have to have author support to make a book succes...