• Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Book Coach
    • Book Proposal
    • Classes, Workshops & Retreats
    • Editorial Services
    • Literary Consultant
  • Why Work With Us
  • Contact
  • Blog
Publishing
Paths to Publishing
by, Jill Swenson
August 11, 2015

The business of publishing continues to evolve and new finance models have emerged in recent years. There is a lot of new middle ground between self-publishing – Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu – and the traditional route of finding an agent who sells your work to one of the big commercial trade presses – Penguin Random House, Hatchette Book Group, Harper Collins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster…. [Read More]

Filed Under: academic presses, Beacon Press, Cooperative Publishing, Distribution, IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, marketing strategy, Nonprofit Publishers, Publishers, Publishing, subsidy
1 Comment
Why you should not self-publish your book
by, Jill Swenson
April 4, 2014
Information for the Swenson Book Development Writer's Workshop

“Should I self-publish?” No. No. No. It’s one of the most frequent questions I get from aspiring writers and 99 out of 100 times my answer is no. If it’s Grandma’s recipes you want to put together, your wedding photo album, flash or fan fiction, or a poetry chapbook, then maybe. But I don’t recommend authors self-publish. This doesn’t make me popular and I’m certain… [Read More]

Filed Under: 50 Shades of Grey, Amanada Hocking, AuthorHouse, E.L. James, how much do self-published authors make?, Publishing, self-publish
5 Comments
An Intern’s Thoughts on Internships
by, Ava Russell
August 13, 2013

College students these days are incredibly well versed in the post-grad talk. I can’t count on my hands how many times I’ve received the “good luck with that” look after I tell people I’m an English literature major with a studio art minor. And, I must admit, for good reason. It’s hardly a secret that it’s a tough time to find employment. There are expectations… [Read More]

Filed Under: Business, Community, Finger Lakes, intern, Publishing
1 Comment
DRM – The Acronym that’s Deleting (or Saving?) Books
by, Claire Webber
November 3, 2012

DRM is an acronym that readers may not associate with good experiences – you’ll encounter it a lot in articles about the woman who had her digital library remotely wiped from her Kindle by Amazon  or ones about the poetic deletion of George Orwell’s 1984 from hundreds of e-reader devices. DRM is a topic that gets people in flames – and as a future author,… [Read More]

Filed Under: Copyright, DRM, e-readers, ebook, iPad, Kindle, libraries, Publishing, Readers, technology, US Copyright Law
No Comments
Growing the seeds of ideas: books for small farmers
by, Jill Swenson
August 4, 2012

The small farm book business grows organically. Growing the seeds of good ideas into books, is akin to farming in some respects. In publishing, like in farming, there are large multinational multimillion dollar corporations dominant in the industry. Yet, the groundswell of good books about small scale farms, seasonable cuisine, and sustainable living reflects the growing market for good ideas. You may have noticed more… [Read More]

Filed Under: Center Street, Chelsea Green, Eliot Coleman, Folks This Ain't Normal, Hatchette Book Group, Joel Salatin, Organically grown audience, Polyface, Publishing, Rodale, Storey
No Comments
What an agent and publisher need to know about you, the author
by, Jill Swenson
July 28, 2012

Authors may be surprised to learn that before an agent or publisher reads a word of their manuscript, they make judgments based on the query letter or proposal. They read your materials to assess the potential for successful publication based on the information they gather about the book, about the audience, and yes, about the author. In the last two posts, I focused on questions… [Read More]

Filed Under: About the Author, acquisition editiors, agents, Audience platform, Biographical profile, book proposal, Publishing, query, social media metrics
No Comments
Hurdles for authors of children’s books.
by, Jill Swenson
July 17, 2012

Children’s books are treated differently than other kinds in the business of publishing. The market is highly segmented with rigid requirements about reading level and age appropriateness. The number of words and pages are rigidly defined within each sector of children’s books. Having more than one book up your sleeve is important since serial books are more desirable than a single title.  Marketing features matter… [Read More]

Filed Under: 2012 Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market, Children's Books, Chuck Sambuchino, Publishing, Writer's Digest
No Comments
A Day at BEA: Swenson Book Development does Book Expo America
by, Claire Webber
June 16, 2012

Swenson Book Development, LLC was in the thick of publishing madness two weeks ago  – two members of our team, myself and Jill Swenson, checked out the trade floor and events at Book Expo America.  BEA is the place for movers and shakers of the North American publishing industry. From event interviews of famous musicians-come-authors to Harlequin Romance shilling for their latest salacious-covered paperback, from bustling New… [Read More]

Filed Under: Andrew Kessler, Authors, BEA, blogging, book conventions, book expo america, Cathryn Prince, convention, For the Love of Books, marketing strategy, neil young, New York City, patti smith, Publishers, Publishing
1 Comment
Landing an agent or publisher for your non-fiction book
by, Jill Swenson
December 27, 2011

You might think you have a non-fiction book concept worth publishing, but in order to convince an agent or publisher of that you will need a winning query letter and full proposal. Writers tend to focus too narrowly on the ideas and content of their manuscript and lose perspective on the purpose of a book proposal. Think of it as a business plan. If you wanted… [Read More]

Filed Under: Acquisition Editors, agents, Book Development Editor, copyedit, non-fiction book proposal, Publishing, Query letter
1 Comment
A Writing Group’s Writer
by, Bethany Dixon
September 8, 2011

A Writing Group’s Writer On August 3rd at 6pm, Buffalo Street Books hosted Leslie Daniels for a discussion of her critically acclaimed novel/fictional memoir, Cleaning Nabokov’s House. (For a review of the book on our blog, follow this link. Or, watch the book trailer here.)The discussion was open to the public, and followed suit with the bookstore’s ongoing commitment to Ithaca’s literary community with their… [Read More]

Filed Under: Buffalo Street Books, editing, Katharine Hepburn, Leslie Daniels, Local authors, manuscripts, Publishing, writing groups
1 Comment

Posts navigation

Older posts
NEWSLETTER
RECENT ARTICLES
Writing Retreats to Inspire in 2023
Dec 20, 2022   |   Audrey Arnold
Keeping History Alive—an Interview with Bett Fitzpatrick
Nov 15, 2022   |   Audrey Arnold
Reading in Duluth
Oct 25, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
Fall Forecast
Sep 13, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
August is for Reading
Aug 9, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
view more

ARCHIVES

Growing Good Ideas Into Great Books

CONTACT US

    LINKS

    • Blog
    • Contact
    • Welcome
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • Why Work With Us

    TWITTER

    • Lurking? Who me?
    • The good stuff.... https://t.co/IxzBIsq5fT
    @swenbooks
    Copyright © Swenson Book Development - All Rights Reserved
    Privacy Policy