David Weller Author Blogspot

I recently stumbled across an entry on Wikipedia for a brand new UK based literary agency. When I checked out their website I discovered they are also writers, editors and publishers. . Apparently they are willing to ghost write your novel for an undisclosed fee. I can't imagine how much that would cost, but you'd probably need to get onto the New York Times Bestseller List to recover the expenditure. With that accomplished their editors could help you produce a clean, well presented manuscript suitable for submission to an agent or publisher. For my word count that would be about £231. Once you've submitted the manuscript to one of their literary agents they'd probably place it with their own publishing division who would charge you for the pleasure of seeing your work as an e-book on Amazon. The cost? Well they'd charge me approximately £290. So who are these multi-talented people? Curiously enough they don't seem to want anyone to know their names. Pe...

A picture paints a thousand words. This phrase is attributed to Frederick R Barnard who used it in Printers Ink   (December 1921) while commenting that graphics can tell a story as effectively as a large amount of descriptive text. This is certainly an important factor to consider when deciding on a design for a book cover and why it's best left to a professional (unless, that is, you happen to be a very gifted amateur), which I'm not! With the text formatted and edited only the lack of a suitable cover stands in the way of publication for Truthseeker.

Let's face it. Amazon is saturated with self published books. Some can rival the best that traditional publishing houses have to offer, but thousands more could do with a substantial rewrite or some serious attention from a competent editor. Although self publication has always been an option, I've always been a little hesitant about throwing my own hat into the ring too soon. The best people to provide an unbiased opinion are those who are part of the publishing industry. Agents, editors and other authors are all in a position to provide constructive feedback. Realising this I decided to seek opinions in all three arenas. Once I'd completed Truthseeker I sent it out to a few agents to gauge their responses. The only replies I received were form rejections. Usually within days or a week or two at most. What I really needed was some constructive criticism and so I had a reputable literary consultancy read through my manuscript and write a report. My editor's advice...