Category: Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’m thankful for the rise in dystopian fiction (my son’s favorite genre and one that was difficult to find before the Hunger Games gained prominence) and e-readers. Believe me, we’d tapped out our county library system before getting a Kindle. In fact, I was sending purchase requests weekly to the acquisitions librarian until they instigated a limit on the number of requests a patron could make.

Before ebooks, I ordered books online, drove across town to the bookstore, visited the second-hand store—and we still kept running out of books.

We got some relief from our problem when we bought a Kindle. Finally we had instant access to thousands of books. But recently, we’ve found that we’ve quickly plowed through the traditionally published YA books that are available. Since I’m his personal librarian (he only really wants to read the books…he doesn’t want to find them), I started looking at the self-published YA books on the Kindle.

There was one series that I kept running across. It had several books already available (practically a prerequisite when it comes to books for my son) and a lot of reviews…not the handful of 5-stars that you so frequently find with self-published books. I started reading through the reviews.

From all the reader accounts, the plot and characters were very sound—but there were a lot of errors in the books, (mostly typos but also continuity errors).

At this point we were pretty desperate. He was between books and the sequel to Divergent wasn’t coming out until May 1. I went ahead and downloaded the first of the books in that series. After all, I thought, we’re talking about a 15 year old boy. It couldn’t bother him too much.

But it did. He came back downstairs later that evening. “I finished the book,” he said. Then he looked at me funny. “You know, the story was good and I liked the characters…but there were so many mistakes. It was totally distracting. I’ve never seen typos like that in a book.”

Because he’d never read a self-published book before.

This is the main problem with self-published books. You can either get a fantastic book (frequently from an author’s backlist) that’s well edited or you can get a book that’s a complete disaster. It’s a minefield.

It’s easy to find a freelance editor. Yes, it costs money to hire an editor. This post by Meghan Ward gives an idea of what expense you could be looking at. This is the part about self-publishing that everyone has to get over…the books have got to be edited. I paid editors to work on the two books that I’ve self-published. It was worth it. They found plenty of errors that I’d missed.

It will cost you a lot less money if you first go over the book yourself and then get a beta reader to read it over for you. If an editor has got to correct a lot of errors on a page, it will cost you more money because it’s taking up more of the editor’s time that they could be spending editing other people’s books. Most editors charge an hourly rate instead of a flat fee.

There are different types of editors you can hire. You can find a substantive editor who will read for story and character arc, POV, and other global issues. You can find a line editor who will read for mechanics, style, and consistency. Sometimes you can find editors who cover all of these things. This post on the Novel Editor blog explains the different types of editors and their duties.

But you don’t have to get editors that suggest major revisions, if you feel your story is fairly sound (try to be objective here…is it sound?) At the very least, though, you need to find a professional proofreader who can fix typos, glaring grammatical errors, and other basic problems that will trip readers up when they read your book.

We put so much time into writing these stories….we owe it to ourselves (and our readers) to ensure our books are readable.

If we know we’re writing a book that we plan to self-publish, we can go ahead and start the process of looking for an editor while we’re still working on the book. Word of mouth/referral is a good way to find someone, or we might know editors from the blogging world—many freelance editors blog. Agent Rachelle Gardner has also listed freelance editors that she’s worked with in the past. I also host a free directory of ebook professionals, which includes freelance editors: click here.

But you’ll want a good editor. How will you know if an editor is any good?

Again, word of mouth is helpful. Editors should also be able to supply testimonials from clients. Thursday, Porter Anderson did a great wrap-up of posts on ebooks and editing. He referenced Victoria Strauss’ blog, where she listed ways to vet an editor.

Once we find a freelance editor we’re happy with, we’re usually set. The next time we have a project to be edited, we don’t have to go through this process…we just send it over.

If you’ve hired freelance editors, how did you find them? As a reader, how many mistakes are you willing to overlook when you read? How distracting are they?

Post image by Mad African on Flickr

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Social media has made it possible for readers to find out more about and connect with their favorite authors. Authors interact on Twitter, Facebook, and through blogs and websites with their readers.

And readers know how to find them. Author “contact me” links are prominently displayed on sites (or they should be, if they aren’t.)

I’ve noticed a good number of readers getting in touch with me—mostly through email, but also through my Facebook inbox (the second most popular method I see) and through Twitter direct messages.

The interesting thing is that most of the emails I get are readers requesting plot lines or plot points, or giving suggestions about future books.

At first I was really surprised at this. The only authors I’ve ever written are some YA authors I actually know after my son has especially enjoyed a book—because I just wanted to pass along a compliment. I know I haven’t made any plot suggestions to any of my favorite writers.

Then, though, I started seeing the notes as a useful tool. After all, I’m writing a series. Readers know my characters pretty well. And it’s gratifying that they care about them. Sometimes in their emails it sounds as if they would like to write their own fan fiction but would rather me do it.

How responsive should writers be to their readers? Well, of course it’s not a fast food type of relationship where writers just deliver the order. But I think it’s smart for writers to know their readers well. You’ve got to know your target demographic. You need to know what your readers like. And, if you want to continue writing your series (especially if it’s traditionally published…but this goes for self-published books too. Why continue writing a series without readers?) you need to make sure the readers continue enjoying the books.

Whenever I get notes from readers I always respond. I don’t make promises, but I tell them that I appreciate their feedback. Then I add their email/Facebook message/Twitter DM to a Word file that I review before writing the next book. If I’ve got several readers with similar suggestions you better believe it’s something I’ll seriously consider changing.

Things I’ve changed as a response to readers:

I’ve given some characters more time onstage, some characters less.

I’ve analyzed what readers said that they especially liked (there was a particular scene in one of my series that kept coming up)—and provided more of it.

I’ve dropped profanity from the remaining books in my series in response to numerous emails regarding it.

I’ve gone a step farther, too. Besides looking for data from reader emails, I’ve sought out and read any of my stinky reviews online …and analyzed them for a common thread. When I saw something mentioned repeatedly, I made a note of it. It’s not too hard to get past any hurt feelings when you’re being analytical—easier than it might seem, actually.

Where I think this approach would give me more pause is if I had a series with more of a linear storyline from book to book. Like the Harry Potter series. There we’ve got a series with a huge following and dedicated readers…vocal readers, according to Ms. Rowling. She had many letters requesting particular outcomes to the series, but stood her ground and kept to her outline.

But….she had a plan for the remaining books already in mind.

Where I think writers can easily be responsive to readers is series genre fiction where each book is written as a standalone or a standalone with a continuing linear subplot.

No, of course this won’t work for literary fiction. But literary fiction is so rarely in series form that it really doesn’t even apply.

Now this is where y’all convince me I’m completely wrong and it’s all about artistic integrity. :) And I do want to point out that if I strongly believed that the readers were out in left field about something, I wouldn’t change my story. So far, though—the readers have had some remarkable insights.

I change my story for my editors—why wouldn’t I for my readers? Who better to please?

What are your thoughts about our writing our own fan fiction?

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I usually don’t open forwarded videos (or forwarded emails of any kind) unless it’s something I’ve heard a lot about or something that’s gone especially viral (and I mean viral in a good way.) This video is a fast-paced 1:46.

You’ve probably seen this, actually…it’s hard to avoid the video online or in your email inbox right now.

As a writer, I found it especially entertaining because I feel like that’s practically my whole life right now—throwing conflict, complications, and assorted drama at my unsuspecting characters.

Need drama? This video succinctly sums up many of the ways to do it (of course, the video’s take is random and campy):

Arguments

Health calamities

Accidents

Physical confrontation

Political intrigue

Sex (which can add a slew of different complications to a story)

The element of surprise (pretty much the running theme of the whole video.)

This video doesn’t even cover internal conflict…which adds even more tension and complexity to a story. Does your protagonist have inner demons? Flaws that are holding him back? Personal struggles he’s up against?

Usually adding conflict to your story is key to fixing a slow-paced or boring story. You also need to know what your character wants most and then throw up obstacles to your character receiving it.

Conflict doesn’t have to be a shoot-out resulting in a victim being dragged off by American football players. For the story I’m writing now, I’ve got conflict as minor as a tedious search for a missing suspect at a busy festival. Then I’ve got conflict as major as a physical fight preceding the discovery of the stabbed victim.

Simple tension in the form of worries can also help readers relate to our main character. Worrying is something we all understand. My protagonist in my current WIP is worried about different people who are important to her. Those characters are creating conflict through their own personal problems (some of which play into the mystery I’m writing, some of which are side issues that act as a subplot and provide tension.)

As we all know, worrying eats up hours for most of us—this keeps our protagonist from his goal, too. The key with worries is that the protagonist has to act on his worries. Protagonists don’t just uselessly worry over stuff or they’d be as boring as we are. :) They’ve got to try to effect change. Maybe their butting in also creates tension and conflict. Sometimes we aren’t happy with people who try to fix our problems for us.

Do you use a lot of conflict and tension in your stories? Is your conflict on a smaller scale, larger scale, or both?

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific is a compilation of all the writing links I shared the previous week.

The links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 15,000 free articles on writing-related topics. Sign up for our free newsletter for monthly writing tips and interviews with top contributors to the WKB or like us on Facebook.

Don’t’ forget the new release blogfest that Hart Johnson and I are hosting on June 5th—find more information and sign up here. The best entries get signed copies of our new releases.

Have a great week!

How to Start Your Novel: http://bit.ly/IfpSS1 @joebunting

A roundup of analysis on the MS/B&N deal: http://bit.ly/JPPHVo @Porter_Anderson @JPManga @sarahw @maryjofoley @ThadMcIlroy @mikecane

Updating Traditional Motifs to Create Fresh Fiction: http://bit.ly/Ijs5MY

Style Sheets for Consistency: http://bit.ly/IjsdMt @Artzicarol

Why e-books will soon be obsolete (it’s not just because of DRM): http://bit.ly/InmHF6 @jpatokal

For writers on the go–a $10 folding whiteboard: http://tcrn.ch/IbRLFA @mjburnsy

Mouth-Watering Book Nooks: http://bit.ly/Ijsuiy @BookishWallace

Miniature fairytale for royal dolls’ house to be published full size: http://bit.ly/IjsBuk @alisonflood

Character intelligence: a matter of consistency and context: http://bit.ly/IZmG9F @JulietteWade

5 Tips for Making Time to Write: http://bit.ly/IZmNSn @lynnegarner

What Amazon’s ebook strategy means: http://bit.ly/IZn2gh

Sites for Ideas and Inspiration: http://bit.ly/IZnjA1 @cherylrwrites

Precision increases plausibility: http://bit.ly/IZnmMc

The Danger of Authors Being Too Clique-y on Twitter: http://bit.ly/IbboPr @roniloren

Note to publishers: Your addiction to DRM is killing you: http://bit.ly/IbbUNl @mathewi

The difference between edits and copyedits: http://bit.ly/Ibc3QV @MiriamForster

Discrepancy vs. Disparity: http://bit.ly/Ibcbjg @writing_tips

The Trouble With Tagging and Liking – How an Amazon Tag and Like Aren’t Enough: http://bit.ly/Ibchr3 @beth_barany

Writers should broaden their marketing efforts: http://bit.ly/JsSaY3 @KristenLambTX

The Writer’s Version Of The Seven Deadly Sins: http://bit.ly/JsSjuB @ChandlerWrites

Choosing a Historical Fiction Topic, or Any Topic: http://bit.ly/IHtlr7 @msheatherwebb

Literary magazines for new and emerging writers: http://bit.ly/IHtxa2 @rebeccaberto

5 Ways to Reduce the Working-Mom Whine Syndrome: http://bit.ly/IHtHOL @jodyhedlund

How to use, not abuse, jargon, slang, idioms: http://bit.ly/IHtYB4 @writeitsideways

Consumers Increasingly Choosing Tablets Over E-Readers, Study Says: http://bit.ly/IEmZ87 @DigiBookWorld

A brief history of Microsoft’s e-reader efforts: http://bit.ly/JNhvNN @kevinctofel

How to become an e-book sensation: http://bit.ly/JNib5S @Beverly_Akerman

8 tips to get the most out of attending a writers conference: http://bit.ly/JNiQ7n @michellerafter

What years as an agent brought to 1 writer: http://bit.ly/JNiZrl

15 Ways to Write Tight: http://bit.ly/JNj7qM

Creative Ways to Kill a Character: http://bit.ly/JNm6PW @writersdigest

Is Your Work Commercially Viable? http://bit.ly/JNm9LH @janefriedman

What does the DoJ settlement mean for customers? A summary: http://tinyurl.com/c4b8c8f

Tips for writers who suffer from repetitive strain injury: http://bit.ly/JNmj5R @byRozMorris

The relative respectability of various contractions: http://bit.ly/JNmIFq @writing_tips

Self Publishing on Amazon: Kindle Direct Publishing: http://bit.ly/JNmRIO @woodwardkaren

A refresher on punctuation and parentheses: http://bit.ly/JXQqFZ @livewritethrive

How to Create Distinctive Character Voices: http://bit.ly/JXQBAZ @KMWeiland

12 Ways to Create a Mailing List that Will Sell Books: http://bit.ly/JXQSnt @bookgal

What Not To Do or What 1 Writer Learned from Watching Season 4 of Castle: http://bit.ly/Kn3bX9 @anna_elliott

An example of line editing: http://bit.ly/Ko86Hk @theresastevens

A capitalization refresher, with an infographic: http://bit.ly/Ko8k17 @grammarnet

Five Resources For Freelance Writing: http://bit.ly/Ko8w0p @howtowriteshop

5 Reasons Other Writers Aren’t Showing You The Love: http://bit.ly/Ko8Dt0 @jeanoram

Know Your Reader, Know Your Setting: http://bit.ly/Ko8LJ0

In electronic author collectives, writers band together to promote their books: http://bit.ly/IngRDF @robotech_master

Why 1 agent doesn’t think New Adult is marketable yet: http://bit.ly/Inmn9u @sarahlapolla

Back away slowly from 1-star reviews: http://bit.ly/Inmsdh @sierragodfrey

The problem with Twitter hashtags and automation: http://bit.ly/InmzWf @KristenLambTX

Why Do Old Books Smell? http://bit.ly/InmBxl

The 7 Bad Habits of Insanely Productive People: http://bit.ly/InmOAF @soniasimone

Make-or-Break Verbs: http://nyti.ms/IkfvHA @sinandsyntax

How to Outline (the Easy Way) Like Janet Evanovich: http://bit.ly/IkfHqk @writersdigest

Social Stereotypes in Worldbuilding: http://bit.ly/K0DdMu @JulietteWade

10 Ways Free iPhone Apps Supercharge Writers: http://bit.ly/Jdp7Fv @jfbookman

1 writer dissects “The Hunger Games” to find 20 things that made it work: http://bit.ly/JdpeRp @annerooney

8 Tips for Naming Characters: http://bit.ly/JnH1Dm @toucanic

Top 5 reasons why Twitter Crushes Facebook: http://bit.ly/JnH56c @speechwriterguy

Self-destructive behavior by writers: http://bit.ly/JnH7ek @sarahahoyt

Think Like a Publisher: Early Decisions: http://bit.ly/JnHc1w @deanwesleysmith

20 Words for That Certain Something: http://bit.ly/JnHg1r @writing_tips

Types of conflict and subtypes of external conflict: http://bit.ly/JnHkhH

5 tips for a successful book event: http://bit.ly/JdqZye @curiosityquills

Story Structure: The Third Act: http://bit.ly/Jdr7xD @KMWeiland

Throughline: Tying Your Story Together: http://bit.ly/JMhoOQ @mooderino

4 tips for writing compelliing erotica: http://bit.ly/JMhBBv

YA Authors on Pinterest: http://bit.ly/JR5I0M

Crime fiction–when protagonists from different series join forces to solve cases: http://bit.ly/JocpS8 @mkinberg

7 things 1 writer learned from working with editors: http://bit.ly/ImlAEU @BryanThomasS

Do Writing Contests Help or Hurt Creativity? http://bit.ly/ImlDQU @jeanniecampbell

How to Form Plurals of Compound Nouns: http://bit.ly/ImlHAg @writing_tips

Train your muse like a puppy: http://bit.ly/ImlKfo @rachellegardner

Perfecting Your First Page: 3 Tasks or Exercises: http://bit.ly/ImlQDJ @janefriedman

Thinking Through a Strategy for DRM: http://bit.ly/IlgZBx @JosephJEsposito

Hiring a Freelance Editor: A Step-by-Step Guide: http://bit.ly/Ilh7AX

12 ways Twitter makes you a better writer: http://bit.ly/Ilh9ZI @eMergentPublish

Setting the Mood with your First Lines: http://bit.ly/Ilhfk7

Tips for ending chapters with a bang: http://bit.ly/IlhGdY @AdriennedeWolfe

How (Not) to Write Great Characters: http://bit.ly/IlhJXf @Ava_Jae

Own the crazy: http://bit.ly/IlhMCw @ChuckWendig @ThereseWalsh

The YA Genre Is Killing Itself: http://bit.ly/JooJlE @fuelyourwriting

The 9 Smartest Things Said about the non-Pulitzer: http://bit.ly/Jop7An @readingape

Taking critique like a pro: http://bit.ly/Jopdbp @behlerpublishing

5 steps for testing your opening scene: http://bit.ly/Jopjj7 @roniloren

Tips for writing better book reviews: http://bit.ly/JopFXb @readingape

Ebooks–Pricing, Visibilty & Experimentation: http://bit.ly/JoqIX3 @DavidGaughran

The Key Ingredient for Dramatic Tension–Understanding the Antagonist: http://bit.ly/JoqRK7 @kristenlambTX

Launching a successful blog tour: http://bit.ly/IEyKlo

The Starburst Method: The Character Grid: http://bit.ly/IEyXF2 @woodwardkaren

Tips for writing villains: http://bit.ly/IEzrel

No sympathy for the creative class: http://bit.ly/IHjQI5 @TheMisreadCity

The Introvert Blogger’s 5-Step Guide to Acing an Interview: http://bit.ly/IHjTU3 @catseyewriter

15 Tips for Children’s Book Authors: http://bit.ly/IHkANo @pictsandprint

The Criterion For Evaluating An Agent: http://bit.ly/IHkPYy

Guest blogger etiquette: http://bit.ly/IHkTrf @curiosityquills

23 Timeless Quotes About Writing: http://bit.ly/IHkVQ2 @writersdigest

10 keys to a great writer’s conference: http://bit.ly/IHkYv6 @CherylRWrites

Fantasy characters with disabilities and imperfections: http://bit.ly/IHl7P8 @fantasyfaction

How to be both original and universal: http://bit.ly/IHladM @jammer0501

Do characters really need to be likeable? http://bit.ly/IvMVa1 @JulietteWade

Tips for on-air interviews: http://bit.ly/JPSCNJ @Porter_Anderson @LinLacombe

1 industry insider’s acknowledgment of the case for self-pub–with 4 qualifiers: http://bit.ly/JPRoSv @Porter_Anderson @MikeShatzkin

2 Tests That Can Help Writers Sort Through Feedback: http://bit.ly/JPTrGn @jodyhedlund

Tips for keeping your writing fresh: http://bit.ly/JPTGBe @jhansenwrites @MargieLawson

Tenses and Person: http://bit.ly/JPTORg @MistyMassey

Six Great Reasons to Write Your Novel: http://bit.ly/JPTZMu @thecreativepenn

Character stereotypes and archetypes: http://bit.ly/KhgHBT @AlexSokoloff

5 Reasons to Keep Blogging When You Want to Abandon the Mission: http://bit.ly/Khh4fI @originalimpulse

Good Writing Isn’t Good Enough Anymore, Especially in Queries: http://bit.ly/Khhhj0 @greyhausagency

7 Tools For Pacing A Novel & Keeping Your Story Moving At The Right Pace: http://bit.ly/KhhmDq @writersdigest

Plot vs Arc: Effecting Change: http://bit.ly/KhhzGB @behlerpublish

The digital-only model is cool for cats – and even Shakespeare: http://bit.ly/INwsA2 @thefuturebook

A look at juries in crime fiction: http://bit.ly/INBDQu @mkinberg

The secret truth about writing: http://bit.ly/INFiOr @speechwriterguy

What are the primary goals of your protagonist & antagonist? http://bit.ly/INFJs6

Tips for creating literary fiction: http://bit.ly/ING2mv

How to cut thousands of words without shedding a tear: http://bit.ly/INGgdl @rachellegardner

20 Middle Grade Fiction Agents: 83 Sales: http://bit.ly/INGmBY @fictionnotes

Tips for designing a story using mood collages: http://bit.ly/INHbe0 @diymfa

Author Blogging 101: Listening: http://bit.ly/INHhCj @JFBookman

Write How You Write, Not How You Speak: http://bit.ly/INHq8W @writing_tips

Sexual Tension Is Not Just About The Next Morning: http://bit.ly/INJTA2 @greyhausagency

Writing and receiving book reviews: http://bit.ly/INKqC3 @beth_barany

Using archaeology to inspire–troglodyte dwellings: http://bit.ly/INKRwl @GeneLempp

5 Things 1 Writer Learned About Self-Publishing: http://bit.ly/INLIwT @elephantguy68

How 1 writer built her author website: http://bit.ly/INNDlc @roniloren

5 Things You Don’t Need To Include When Writing Summaries: http://bit.ly/INNPRt @writersdigest

Dos and Don’ts for fantasy language: http://bit.ly/INO3Ie @fantasyfaction

Publishers should focus on the 19% (infographic): http://bit.ly/INOiD0 @galleycat

Reviewing Your Reviews: How to Absorb Feedback from Writing Contests: http://bit.ly/INOMt1 @jeanniecampbell

Resist the urge to explain: http://bit.ly/INPeY8 @TheresaStevens

How to create a remarkable writing voice: http://bit.ly/INQ33b @KristenLambTx

by @bhartikirchner, Bharti Kirchner

When I first wrote a draft of Tulip Season I believed it fell in the mainstream category (like my four previous novels), but had a mystery element in it. In time, I showed it to my editor at a big New York house. Her response stunned me. She said she liked the main character Mitra, her relationships, the twists and turns, and the Bollywood aspect of the story, but added, “Take the mystery out.”

But the mystery of the disappearance of Mitra’s best friend was at the heart of the story. How could I eliminate that and the severe effect of that disappearance? My expectation has met cold hard reality. I told my editor I’d take some time and think about it. In effect what I did was to put the novel away.

Then my editor left the publishing house, which didn’t make it easy for me. I began to wonder: What should I do with this manuscript? I believed Tulip Season was as a good a book as I’d ever written, possibly better, and that it deserved a home. Every so often I’d take out the manuscript and work on it, aware that it was actually becoming more of a mystery novel. To make a long story short, a friend suggested showing it to a small publisher and after some thought I did. To two of them. Both seemed enthusiastic about the book, the fact that it was an unusual mystery novel, and made offers. I accepted one. Happily for me, Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery is just out in Kindle and Nook formats, with the paperback to be released next week.

What have I learned? That there are other alternatives to a big publisher. That for each book there is a perfect fit and you have to find it. If you’re struggling to find a home for a manuscript, you might do well to consider all possible venues for publishing, one of which is a small independent press.

Note that small presses come in different colors. There are academic presses (such the University of Michigan Press) which do few trade books, but function more like a legacy publisher. There are small but distinguished literary presses (such as Algonquin). Then there are also e-publishers, who might or might not do print books. Check the history of the press and its reputation before you plunge in. Many websites have “Authors beware” type of information.

What are some other differences? You might get little or no advance money, but can often expect a higher percentage of royalty. Your book may not take as long to hit the market, but you may have to forgo pre-publication reviews (such as in Publisher’s Weekly or Kirkus Reviews). You might work more closely with your press, but may have to assume more responsibilities. If predictions of pundits are correct, small presses will play a big role in the industry in future.

*************************

Bharti Kirchner is the prolific author of eight books — four novels and four cookbooks. Her fifth, a mystery novel Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery is due out in 2012. Her work has been translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Marathi, Thai and other languages. Her fourth novel Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries (St. Martin’s Press) was selected for the Summer Washington Reads program. Darjeeling (St. Martin’s Press), a third novel, received endorsements from top national authors. Shiva Dancing (Dutton), her first novel, was chosen by Seattle Weekly to be among the top 18 books by Seattle authors in the last 25 years. (“A finely crafted novel,” says Publisher’s Weekly. “A fresh literary terrain,” says San Francisco Chronicle.) Sharmila’s Book, a second novel, was published by Dutton. (“Smart, swift, and funny,” says Publisher’s Weekly.) You can find Bharti Kirchner at her website (http://www.bhartikirchner.com ) or on Twitter at @bhartikirchner.