Publishing – Mythic Scribes Test Site

How to Find a Niche Audience

When I set out to write my Splatter Elf stories, the first thought that entered my mind was, “Who in the blue hell is going to read this?” Then I went back to that old nugget of advice, “Write what you know.” Well, I know a great deal about fantasy, schlocky violence, cartoons, and monsters. … Read more

Knowing When You’re Ready to Publish

by Philip Overby

Oh crap. You have that sinking feeling in your stomach, don’t you? Just the mention of the word publish makes your pulse quicken. But maybe it’s for a good reason.

Getting ready to publish can be nerve-wracking, soul-searing, and heart-soaring all at once. That’s a lot of hyphenated words. So when is the right time to pull the trigger and put your work out in the world?

I’ve composed a list (a list!) to perhaps move you in right direction. Imagine you’re on a game board. Some elements of my list may move you forward, others backward. At the end of the day, you have to decide what is going to help you reach your endgame. Which is hopefully a beautiful, bouncy baby book.

5 Essential Publishing Skills

by Featured Author

This article is by T.L. Bodine.

Self-publishing can certainly seem like the easier route to take when it comes to getting your words in front of readers. After all, there are no gate-keepers – no agents to court, no publishers to approach.

With the click of a button, your book can be released into the ether for anyone to come across. And if the traditional path to publication seems daunting, it can be comforting to think that going indie will be easy.

Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. There’s a big difference between publishing a book and actually getting people to read it, and many of the things readers are looking for are exactly the things agents and acquisition editors want as well. As it turns out, most of the key skills needed for landing an agent are very similar to those for hooking readers.

Navigating the Self-Publishing Fandango

by Featured Author

This article is by Cate Morgan.

There’s no doubt about it: there is a lot of noise out there in the crowded, Dread Interwebz when it comes to what I refer to as the Self-Publishing Fandango.

It’s like a tango in the respect that it sounds sexy at the outset, and certainly looks sexy when it’s done by trained professionals. But without full knowledge of the steps, it can turn violent in terms of tangled legs, stepped-on toes, and ballistic stilettos impaling innocent bystanders. In other words, disappointing and not pretty for all concerned.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We all know the publishing landscape has changed dramatically with the wide acceptance of eBooks and the wild popularity of the Kindle. That’s not news. What is news is authors’ perspectives changing right along with it, and as dramatically as a sudden stiletto to the eye.

How to Write a Synopsis

by A. Howitt

Recently, I compared a query letter to a job interview. However, that is only partially correct. If a query letter is you, showing up a little early, dressed in a clean, pressed suit, then your synopsis is what you choose to talk about during the actual interview.

Once you’re past the first impressions (and we’ll assume you wrote a killer query letter), your synopsis is the final chance to hook your agent, get her excited about your project, and make her remember your name above the hundreds of other writers vying for her attention.

What makes a synopsis so daunting? When a writer has the stamina to finish a full-length novel, why does she struggle at synopsis-writing time?

How to Write a Query Letter

by A. Howitt

Writing a query letter is akin to going to a job interview. It’s your first chance to make an impression, and often times, it’s also your last.

It’s this philosophy, coupled with my experience as a recruiter, that leads me to want to put my best foot forward, knowing that I may never get another shot.

As a person who has conducted hundreds of interviews, I can only tell you that resumes with quirky fonts, or pages of meaningless, random facts about previous jobs, didn’t impress me any more than the people who showed up in sweatpants or hoodies to be interviewed.

Give Up: You’ll Never Be Published

by Philip Overby

With self-publishing on the rise, you can now bypass the traditional route, but there are still some of us out there that prefer the “submit, submit, submit” method.

So why won’t you get published either way?

Well, let me tell you, young grasshopper. It could simply be that you’re not finishing anything.

Here are five reasons why:

The Impatient Writer’s Guide to Getting Published

by Philip Overby

Tired of waiting months, weeks, or even days to hear back about your manuscript? Is that 500,000 word door-stopper just desperate to get immediate feedback? Do you like fast food, Twitter, and teleportation?

For those of you that want feedback from an editor yesterday, this is your guide to immediate success. Until recently, I’d never been published, but it wasn’t because of lack of talent. It was because I didn’t use these steps to woo the editors over. Now that I’ve done so, I finally got my short story collection, “Stories that Start in Inns,” published. Go buy it! Now!

You too can pursue your publishing dreams. Just follow these five easy steps and wait for the money to roll in!