Publisher Archives | Alessandro Reale

Contacting Literary Agents: How to Write a Query Letter

I speak a lot about self-publishing because that’s the route I decided to take for my own writing. However, while I found to be self-publishing to be much easier and better suited for my tastes, I don’t think you should count out traditional publishing for your own work. After all, traditional publishing is the big leagues. 99% of the books you find on bookstore shelves are from established publishing houses. Why not take that leap and see if you can make it? Do you think you have what it takes to get published?

But before you can get published, you need to find a literary agent. And how do you go about getting an agent? You need a query letter.

Continue reading “Contacting Literary Agents: How to Write a Query Letter”

Finding the Motivation to Write

Remember in high school when you found it so hard to start that long essay, so you kept on procrastinating? Then, once you actually started writing, it became much easier? Guess what? That feeling doesn’t end with high school.

Continue reading “Finding the Motivation to Write”

Book Marketing 101

I’m going to be honest with you: no matter how great your book is, it won’t mean jack if you don’t know how to market it. You could literally write the next Great American Novel on par with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Catcher in the Rye, and it could end up gathering dust on the library shelves for years to come. In the world of authorship, writing is only half the battle. The real work is getting your book into the hands of readers. But how do you master the art of book marketing?

Continue reading “Book Marketing 101”

The Importance of Editing

If there’s one piece of advice that I will always pass on to writers, it’s this:

EDIT YOUR WORK!

Did you read that correctly? Here it is again…

EDIT YOUR WORK!

Continue reading “The Importance of Editing”

Releasing a Second Edition of Your Book

As per usual, I’m going to start off this blog post by drawing from personal experience and recounting a short anecdote about my writing adventures, particularly focused on publishing second editions.

Continue reading “Releasing a Second Edition of Your Book”

How a Negative Book Review Can Be a Good Thing

“…poorly written, reads like a first draft of Mary Sue fanfiction where the author inserted himself into the main character to get back at all the bullies in his life…”

What you’ve just read was an actual review for my book, “Dodger’s Doorway”. Seems harsh, right? How can someone be so brash and blunt when reviewing an independent author’s first piece of work? I mean, give us a break, right? We’re out here putting our sweat and blood into our writing; the least you could do is cut us some slack when reviewing our books.

Continue reading “How a Negative Book Review Can Be a Good Thing”

Self-Publishing vs. “Traditional” Publishing

For most writers, the ultimate goal is to get published. One of the greatest feelings in the world is holding that first hard copy of your work in your hands. You think to yourself, “Wow, this is the result of my hard work. I’ve accomplished something!” If you’ve had your work published, congratulations! You deserve every bit of success that comes your way! If you’ve self-published, congratulations! You deserve every bit of success that comes your way!

Continue reading “Self-Publishing vs. “Traditional” Publishing”