Making Her Own Good Fortune: How Marie Carter's Love of Writing & NYC Brought Her Book Publishing Success

Making Her Own Good Fortune: How Marie Carter's Love of Writing & NYC Brought Her Book Publishing Success

For my latest author Q&A, I'm delighted to feature Marie Carter, a good friend whose publishing journey I've followed for over fifteen years. Marie's publications include a memoir with a small press, a self-published novel, and most recently, a nonfiction book. Learn about Marie's different publishing experiences and how her "very targeted approach" to querying quickly landed her an agent for her book Mortimer and the Witches, which released in March from Fordham University Press.

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Why a Urologist-Turned-Educator and a Trial Lawyer Decided to Self-Publish

Why a Urologist-Turned-Educator and a Trial Lawyer Decided to Self-Publish

When client Mara Monoski told me that she decided to self publish her novel, I was curious about why she made this decision. When I first started working with her, she was on the traditional publishing track. Client Brett Burlison was also keen on finding an agent and traditional publisher but ultimately decided to publish his novel under his own label. Here is my brief interview with both writers about their experiences self-publishing and their advice for other writers considering the same.

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The Rewards and Challenges of Self-Publishing Children’s Books: Q&A with Four Authors

The Rewards and Challenges of Self-Publishing Children’s Books: Q&A with Four Authors

As the traditional book publishing landscape becomes increasingly complex and competitive, more writers are considering independent paths. But given their audience, children’s book authors who self-publish face very different challenges from those who write for adults, especially in terms of design, production, and promotion.

Back in 2014, I asked literary agents Kevan Lyon and Kate McKean if children’s book authors should self-publish. In light of the many changes in book publishing since then, I thought I would continue the conversation, this time by speaking directly with writers who have published both traditionally and independently. Separately, I interviewed Zetta Elliott, who has released several books under her own imprint, including picture books; Brent Hartinger, who self-published a young adult series and a new adult series; Cheryl Klein, the author of a self-published a work of nonfiction; and Stephen Mooser, who released a middle grade book on his own.

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