Prerequisite: Publishing 99. If you haven't done those things, you don't belong here. You aren't ready to be published yet—regardless of method. In college creative writing classes, I learned how to get published. The steps were deceptively simple: Write a good book. Get an agent. Get a publisher. No one ever promised I'd make money, […]

Writing is a business, and it requires more thought than setting up a lemonade stand. Writing isn't magic. It's a craft. You need to learn it, hone it, polish it. You may have a gift for storytelling, but if you can't use the language—your brush—you can't paint the word pictures to bring the story to […]

There. I said it. Self-publishing is dead. But before you all scream and throw fire balls at me, read on. The publishing industry is changing. Dramatically. Daily. I'm not saying anything that everyone doesn't already know. But I see a lot of folks trying to describe what is going on in terms of a model […]

Sorry for the long silence on the blog, folks. Lots of exciting things happening and some revealing posts coming this week. I want to introduce you to the newest author in Heart Ally's line-up. I met Daniel Ottalini at a publishing conference. We were both a little overwhelmed by all of the folks at the […]

I'm inspired by the strength of New Yorkers recovering from Sandy. Poet Elise Skidmore considers herself fortunate: she only lost her roof -- and she was able to get gas today! In her recently published book When Leaves Fall she wrote a poem honoring her native New York City. Share this to encourage the New […]

Why did you decide to indie-publish? Why now? About 3 years ago, I went to yet another writer's convention. I met with yet another agent. She loved my writing but said there was no way she could help me publish it...and she was sad about that. I took some time and really got to know […]

I've been busy the last few months with medical issues (not my own), so this post is delayed. Delayed, but important. Amazon has a program out for publishers called Amazon Select. They're offering participants this month $600,000 in bonus money (divided up by how many downloads a book receives) if they will agree to publish […]

I've known Elise for more years than I want to confess to. I've watched her incredible talent grow and mature over the years. It has been frustrating to see this talent mostly hidden away, so bringing this book into publication makes me blissfully happy. I'm so excited to share her talent with the rest of […]

As a young writer, I wanted a patron: someone who would pay my way in exchange for the creativity I would then offer up to bless the world. Reality can be a pain. I was horrified to learn there are so few patrons these days. Great, classical authors had patrons. Painters had patrons. But there […]