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Ready to Publish? 4 Indications to Look For

Posted on April 29, 2025March 28, 2025 by R.M. Archer

It can be hard to tell when a book is ready to be sent out into the world–especially if you’ve never published before–but developing the skill to identify when a book is ready can be critical to the publishing process, whether you’re trying to minimize agent rejections or you’re indie publishing and have to serve as your own gatekeeper. Ultimately, one develops this skill primarily as one writes and publishes more books and comes to better understand one’s own process; there is variation between authors, and you’ll ultimately come to understand when your own books are ready simply from gaining familiarity with the process–and through trial and error. But here are a few indications to look for, as you first begin building this skill, that can help you know when your book is ready for publication.

Editing in Circles

If your edits aren’t Continue reading “Ready to Publish? 4 Indications to Look For” →

Addressing the Fear of Traditional Publishing – Guest Post by K. Orme

Posted on March 25, 2025April 30, 2025 by R.M. Archer

For a while now, I’ve noticed that a lot of authors in the indie community seem to be afraid of traditional publishing for one reason or another. While I fully believe that the traditional publishing path is not for everyone (I don’t think it’s for me, as a general rule), I do believe that we should think clearly about both publishing routes and choose one because it’s truly the best fit rather than because we’re afraid of the other! Today, I have K. Orme on the blog to dispel some of the fears that tend to crop up around traditional publishing, to further the informed choice between traditional, independent, or hybrid publishing. I hope you enjoy and find her article informative!

I have spent the last seventeen years learning my writing craft and studying publishing trends, deciding which publishing method is right for which of my books. Publishing has come a long way since then. It’s come a long way since I studied publishing in college, which was a course I took for my degree. (Officially, I have a BA in History and a Minor in Creative Writing, though I have enough credits to count for a second BA in English/Creative Writing, though it is unofficial.) And that’s only my college education. This doesn’t account for the multiple classes outside of college I’ve taken hosted by conferences and online colleges leading up to this point.

Suffice it to say, I know a little about the publishing industry and have seen trends come and go, as well as pervasive fears about what publishing can look like. And here I am, your resident overthinking author, to give you a little calming moment Continue reading “Addressing the Fear of Traditional Publishing – Guest Post by K. Orme” →

What is Your Cover Saying? – 4 Keys to Quality Cover Design

Posted on March 18, 2025February 26, 2025 by R.M. Archer

Adapted from “Clean Fantasy and Boring Cover Syndrome,” originally published Nov. 28, 2017

Since subscribing to a number of clean fantasy authors’ newsletters, I’ve come across a disappointing trend. A lot of clean fantasy books have really unimpressive covers. The same is often true of indie authors, as a whole. You know the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and that’s great in principle, but when it comes to books, readers really do judge books by their covers. As a reader myself I can attest to this. Heck, it’s why I’m writing this post.

The fact is, that’s not a bad thing. Cover art should Continue reading “What is Your Cover Saying? – 4 Keys to Quality Cover Design” →

How to Choose a Good Editor

Posted on January 14, 2025February 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

If you’re an indie author, in particular, you likely know that a professional editor is part of the investment. But it can be hard to know which editor to choose. How do you know who is going to be a high-quality editor, and how do you know they’ll be the right fit for your book? This post will address both the traits of a good editor, as well as how to assess whether or not an editor has these qualities and whether or not s/he is a good fit for you specifically.

Traits of a good editor

Timeliness

Especially if you’re working with a particular schedule for a given project–whether you’ve announced a release date, plan to submit a project somewhere by a certain date, etc.–it is important to have an editor who can and will get your project scheduled and edited in a timely manner. Many editors will have an average turnaround time posted Continue reading “How to Choose a Good Editor” →

Author Career Investments You Should Be Making

Posted on August 15, 2023April 8, 2025 by R.M. Archer

I know some of you reading this aren’t looking to build a whole author career; writing is a hobby for you, or something you want to dabble in from time to time but not something you want to invest significant portions of your life into. That’s totally fine, and I do think that this post–this series, in fact, because I had too many points for a single post–will still be of value to you in helping you be as professional as possible with the projects you do release.

But if you’re one of many whose goal is to make a career out of writing (and/or writing-related endeavors), this series is for you. Creating a sustainable author career requires investment of many different kinds in many different areas, and this series will dive into what some of those areas are and how to invest well for the career that you want to build.

Today’s post is about some of the most foundational Continue reading “Author Career Investments You Should Be Making” →