Here's the final newsletter of 2014!



Scripted, my young adult novel, continues its journey out into the world. It has a cover–visible in the sidebar–and TV/film and audio rights have been sold. A German translation is in the works as well! You can find out all the details at my website.



2014 also saw major success for Dhonielle Clayton. Her YA novel, The Belles, which Rock Editorial Services helped edit, was sold to Disney-Hyperion! Congratulations, Dhonielle!



Dotting Your Is and Crossing Your Ts In 2014, I collaborated on a couple of projects with proofreader and copyeditor Jannon Stein. Here are some of Jannon's insights into this crucial, but often unsung, step in the editorial process. Some common errors Jannon finds: "minor characters with names spelled two different ways, foreign phrases without the proper diacritics, and special terms that authors do not always capitalize or italicize when they should."

Early signs she was destined to be a proofreader: "Growing up, I was something of a pint-sized pedant—I was sent to the principal’s office once for pointing out that the school library was not a classroom."

On proofreading and e-books: "I think there is confusion about what proofreading entails as fewer and fewer books go through a round of review in hard proof. For example, if I’m working with hard proofs, I’ll be looking for bad word breaks and word stacks: issues that are irrelevant with many e-books." My complete interview with Jannon will be published on my blog next year. For more information on Jannon and her services, check out jannon.org



What I Wish I Had Known Before Self-Publishing



Self-publishing–otherwise known as indie publishing–is all the rage. Below, successful self-published authors, including client Anna Adams, share what they wish they had known before taking the plunge. "I wish I’d learned about being more selective when I advertise . . . I wish I’d known right away that writing a series was the best way to garner a following . . . I wish I’d known right away to diversify my sales channels to reach more readers." – Anna Adams



"I would've written the entire series (or at least the first two books) and published them all within a couple of months of each other. Also, a good team is absolutely essential. (Cover designer, editor, beta readers, etc.)"– Kim Loth Hurst



"Make the best first impression you can. Use an editor. Posit yourself as professionally as any traditionally pubbed book. There is still a lot of stigma and dismissiveness toward self-pubbed works. So I think the onus is on us as self-pubbers to be as polished and 'playing with the big kids' as possible."– Tellulah Darling



"I wish I would've known to use a pen name appropriately with publishing across multiple genres . . . I thought that more books in different genres would gain me more readers across the board. It hasn't been that way for me, as most readers expect certain types of books from a certain name." – Elana Johnson



"I wish I had understood that self publishing is about building sales over time. I was used to traditional publishing, where the first few months of sales are among the most vital . . . If I had understood this better, I would have waited for some of my marketing pushes until after I'd had time to build exposure and gain more reviews."– Beth Revis