MUSE • Leslie Keenan

Word Count – Could It Be Hurting Your Writing Life?

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

At the beginning of national novel writing month, it’s worth asking, does setting word count goals help? I’ve always had students who do this, sometimes weekly, sometimes daily counts. And then I’ve had students who are intimidated by this. Here’s what I think. Sometimes having an artificial word count (even a ridiculous one like in NANOWRIMO) can help spur you on, move you past the negative judgmental voices in your head, and get you writing in flow. Even if you ultimately cut half the words you write, at least now…read more

Nov.04
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To Self-Publish, Or Not To Self-Publish…Alan Sepinwall’s Inspiring Tale

Posted by in Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing

There is new evidence in the ongoing debate about how to publish a book – whether it’s better to go with a traditional publisher or self-publish. I was excited a few months ago to see that one of my favorite bloggers, Alan Sepinwall, who is a television critic, had written a book (The Revolution Was Televised). I was also intrigued to see that he had self-published. I emailed him to ask why he had decided to go this route and not the traditional one. I assumed someone with his high…read more

Apr.11
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Amazon, Publishing, and You

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

From my current Newsletter, November 2011: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several people have been posting and asking about the recent NY Times article about Amazon working directly with authors and leaving publishers out. What do I think of this, they wonder. I haven’t actually responded yet, because what I think is the result of all my 30-plus years in publishing and a great deal of thought and observation. I couldn’t put it into a quick Facebook note, or a Tweet. I will see if I can unravel some of it for you here….read more

Nov.14
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The Energy of Completion

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

From my Newsletter, Late Spring 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have worked on many books. I should say I have worked on many ideas that became manuscripts that became books. I know from all this experience that the closer you get to the end, it seems, the more there is you realize has to be done. This can be very frustrating! You think you have a finished manuscript that just needs a couple of things added, or a few facts checked, and it will take a week to get it done. Three…read more

Aug.29
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E-Books

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

From my Newsletter, Spring 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had a lively discussion about this at the end of one of my writing classes a few weeks ago and since the subject is coming up in the press frequently I thought I would address it here. First, let’s talk about what an e-book is. There are a couple of different types. There’s a simple e-book you may already have seen online. It’s just a downloadable file that you can purchase (or it’s sometimes free) usually from someone’s website, and usually it’s in…read more

Aug.15
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Are Times Really So Bad?

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

From my Newsletter, February 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am being asked frequently, is this a bad time to look for an agent? Isn’t it a bad time to try to sell a book to a publisher? Or I’m being told with a knowing nod, that things are bad in publishing right now. Is this the truth? Here’s what I think. Publishing has always been a margin business. By that I mean the numbers are small all around and the profit is consistent, but consistently low. This is good and bad. It’s…read more

May.05
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Self-Publishing – What, Why, How – and Why Now?

Posted by in Publishing, Writing

From my Newsletter, January 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today I want to write about the question of self-publishing versus a commercial publisher. In the past this was an easier decision. Self-publishing required quite a bit of money, and many people didn’t have the wherewithal to do it. But now, with on-demand publishing, this choice has become a viable option for many. So how do you decide? And does it work? First some definitions. On-demand publishing means that instead of ordering thousands of books from a printer which are stored in a warehouse,…read more

Apr.21
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