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Writing and Publishing

Pen Names

Authors use pen names for assorted reasons. Here are some that come to mind.

To Hide Their Identity

Sometimes an author needs to not identify themselves to protect them and their loved ones. This might be because they write about a highly volatile topic or a significantly personal one.

A pen name protects them and keeps them safe.

To Experiment

Some established authors want to try a different genre without it having any possible negative impact on the sales of their existing books. A pen name accomplishes this.

To Avoid Embarrassment

Sometimes authors grab a pen name to separate them from their genre.

One example of this might be someone publishing erotica but who doesn’t want anyone to know. Of course, there are other situations as well, such as the soccer mom and PTA president writing graphic horror or the gruff construction worker writing romance.

To Not Confuse Readers

A fourth reason to use a pen name is to avoid confusing readers. For example, an author of Amish romance might use a pen name for their sci-fi books.

This isn’t to imply that some readers wouldn’t enjoy both genres, but most won’t—and might stop reading the author altogether. Yes, the book cover should identify the genre, but some readers will still miss that.

In addition to readers, genre hopping can also confuse the Amazon algorithms and start suggesting the wrong books to the wrong readers.

My Take on Pen Names

My recommendation is to avoid pen names whenever possible. It quickly becomes too complex and is too time consuming to manage.

Yet, I’ve gone this route—sort of—with a quasi-pen name.

Most of my writing is biblical Christianity for the Christian market. I publish those books using Peter DeHaan.

Yet I also write for the business market, including my book about writing and publishing, using my full name, Peter Lyle DeHaan.

Why?

I don’t want to confuse readers (or Amazon), so I need to make a delineation, but I can’t use a real pen name because I have two PhDs, one relevant to each area. It’s hard to claim PhD status on a pen name.

When I’m ready to publish fiction, I plan to do so under a third name: P D Haan, which when you say it, sounds like my real name. I don’t anticipate much reader overlap between these three areas, so I’ll minimize confusion by using three somewhat different names.

My three pen names are not a secret, but I think using them does make marketing sense.

Pen Names Conclusion

When it comes to pen names, do as I say, not as I do.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

Balancing the Indie Publishing Versus Traditional Publishing Debate

Here are the pros and cons of indie publishing versus going with a traditional publisher:

Traditional Publishing Pros and Cons: In most cases, traditional publishing requires less of the author, should result in more book sales over a wider distribution, and carries the prestige of a publisher selecting your book for publication. The negatives include the effort to find a publisher, the length of time to publish the book, and earning much less per copy sold—if anything at all.

Indie Publishing Pros and Cons: If you’re self-disciplined, indie publishing allows you to get your book to market faster. You also maintain full control over the final product and make more on each sale. The downside is that you must view publishing as a business and cover all the costs of producing the book yourself. 

A commonly-cited reason to not indie publishing is the requirement to market and promote our books. While it’s true that if we indie publishes we must market our books if we hope to sell any, traditional publishers also expect us to help promote, market and sell our books. If you can’t or won’t do that, the publisher is apt to pass on publishing your book. In short, they want authors who can move product.

Conclusion: There is no right answer to the issue of indie publishing versus pursuing a traditional book deal. It depends on the goals and priorities of each author. Also, some authors do both, depending on the book. They’re hybrid authors, going with traditional publishers for some books and indie publishing others.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

It’s Hard to Land a Publishing Deal

It’s harder now than ever to land a traditional publishing deal. Publishers are risk-averse and generally require that you have a platform to promote and sell books.

Most traditional publishers won’t work directly with authors. They require you to have an agent. An agent only makes money if they land a publishing deal for their client. This means they only take on a client if they think they can sell their work.

Again, having a large platform to sell books is key. Agents are also interested in authors who will likely write many books.

Though it’s never been harder to land a traditional publishing deal, there’s never been more opportunities for self-publishing/indie-publishing.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

Third-Person Omniscient Point of View

Third-person omniscient is out of favor. Do you wonder why?

While we could attribute it to a trend, the best explanation I have is that we’re so conditioned to watching TV and movies, which limit us to the camera’s vantage (third-person limited, if you will), that as readers we expect books to do the same thing.

When I began writing back in the dark ages, I preferred the omniscient voice because third-person limited seemed, well, too limiting. Third-person omniscient was also easier to write because it didn’t restrict me to one point-of-view per scene.

However, those days are gone, and few books published today use omniscient point-of-view. I once heard a podcast recording with Jerry Jenkins, and he said third-person omniscient was “archaic.” That convinced me.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

Citing Sources for Quotes in Books

Each chapter in my friend’s book starts with a quotation. Most of the quotes came from internet sites. She wonders if she needs to include a page citing sources where she obtained each quote. Here’s what I said to her.

For Traditionally Published Books

For traditionally published books, your publisher will have its own requirements for you to follow. And each publisher likely has a different approach. In addition, they also have a legal team that will help keep you and them out of legal trouble.

In general, they will want you to attribute your source. I’ve even heard of one publisher who insisted on a signed release for each quotation. This is burdensome and a good reason to not use quotations.

For Indie Published Books

If you are indie-publishing your book, my opinion (not legal advice) is to cite all your sources. In my books, I try to avoid using any quotes, in any way, from any source. That’s the surest way to avoid getting sued for plagiarism.

However, in your case, this gets messy because the website where you found the quote may have copied it from someone else—that is, they stole it from the original author. Then you perpetuate their plagiarism—and their crime.

Final Thoughts about Citing Sources

If you can remove the quote and put the concept in your own words, that might be your best approach.

I am not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice about citing sources. It’s just my opinion. For a great resource on this subject—as well as other important legal considerations for writers—check out Helen Sedwick’s excellent book Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

Tips for Periodical Submission Success

To submit content to print publications, the first thing is to familiarize yourself with the target publication. Look at the type of content they print, how long each item runs, the style they use, and their tone. To make your periodical submission a success, your goal is to match those characteristics as closely as you can.

Periodical Submission Guidelines

Publications that accept unsolicited submissions will have their submission guidelines posted on their website. Read those and follow their expectations precisely.

If they don’t have their submission guidelines posted, it’s likely they don’t accept unsolicited submissions. Though you could email (or even call) them to find out, you’re more likely to irritate them. Never email them with a submission question until you’ve thoroughly scoured their website looking for an answer.

Before You Submit Your Article

If they accept submissions, then before you submit your content, proofread it carefully, and have someone with writing experience review it too.

Then send your periodical submission without further delay in the manner they specify.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

Writing a Book Versus Blogging

If you want to write a book and blog, what should you do? It’s a book versus blogging debate. Too many writers starting out try to do both and end up doing neither one well. Or they try to write a book before they’re ready.

Then they end up with something not suitable for publication, waste a lot of time, and cause much frustration. That’s assuming they finish the book, but more likely is that they’ll give up before they finish—because they’re not yet ready to write a book.

Unless you’ve done a lot of writing—say about one million words and invested about 10,000 hours honing your skill—I recommend you start with blogging or writing short articles, essays, or flash fiction.

Blogging and short pieces offer several advantages:

  • Blog posts are short and easy to write.
  • Blogging is a great way to hone our writing skills and find our voice.
  • Feedback is quick.
  • Errors are easy to fix.
  • Bloggers develop a habit of writing regularly, even when they don’t feel like it.
  • Blogging according to a schedule—which is what all bloggers should do—helps prepare us to meet deadlines.
  • Blogging prepares us to write longer pieces, up to the length of a book.

There are many other benefits associated with blogging, but these are some of the key ones, which is why I recommend that you start with blogging or writing other short pieces. Save the book for later.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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News

Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing and the Business of Publishing

Do You Have Questions about Writing? Publishing?

Peter Lyle DeHaan has answers, which he shares in Successful Author FAQs. With over three decades of experience as an author, blogger, freelancer, and publisher, Peter will help you on your writing journey.

On this grand adventure:

  • Learn why you shouldn’t call yourself an aspiring writer.
  • Uncover tips to deal with rejection.
  • Expose writing advice that may not be true.
  • Discover how to self-edit, get feedback, and find an editor.
  • Determine if being a writer is worth the effort. (Hint: it is.)

But there’s more. In fourteen chapters, with over one hundred entries, Peter will address:

  • Finding time to write
  • The traditional vs indie publishing debate
  • Whether or not to blog—and what to do if you do blog
  • Copyrights, registration, and legal issues
  • Publishing options and insights

Plus there are loads of writing tips, submission pointers, and a publishing checklist.

Don’t delay your writing journey any longer. Take the next step, and get your copy of Successful Author FAQs.

Be inspired.

Be informed.

Be motivated to become the writer you’ve always dreamed of.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Writing Tips on Formatting Numbers

Do you have questions about formatting numbers? There are two main rules that apply to writing numbers:

1. Write out single-digit numbers (one through nine) and use digits for numbers for 10 and higher, or

2. Write out one hundred and everything less. Use numbers for everything greater than one hundred.

Some style guides say to write out common numbers and use digits for all others. This would result in:

  • one thousand
  • 1,051
  • one million
  • 999,157

Of course, they’re exceptions and special cases. One example is that if a sentence begins with a number, always spell it. If this looks awkward, rewrite the sentence so that it doesn’t start with a number. In this case:

One thousand, two hundred and fifty-seven people were present . . .

becomes

The attendance was 1,257 . . .

Follow these pointers on formatting numbers to cover the most common situations.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Self-Editing Options to Improve Our Writing

Self-editing is hard for most writers, I suspect all writers. We know what we meant to write, so that’s what we tend to see when we try to edit our work. To combat this, try these self-editing options.

To find errors, such as typos, missing words, extra words, and confusing phrases, I use text-to-speech software that reads my words to me. It’s amazing the things I catch when I hear my words out loud.

As far as editing to make my writing better, I defer to a list from Jerry Jenkins, which he posted online, called “21 Self-Editing Secrets that Can Supercharge Your Manuscript.”

Another solution is to find another writer and work out an arrangement where you edit each other’s work. Of course, this works best if you have comparable levels of editing ability and ask each other to edit the same amount of work.

Try these self-editing options to improve your writing and catch pesky errors.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.