Photo by Edward Leonard, Clarke Daily News

The last page of your favorite mystery novel probably offers this brief, final mystery: “Printed and bound in Berryville, Virginia.”

Just where is Berryville, you may ask. A question that can only grow when you learn that a town of some 4,000 people is responsible for producing some 140 million books a year.

A Trappist Monastery And A Printer

As Andrew Madigan of The Washington Post reports, Berryville is the seat of Clarke County, five miles from West Virginia. Buildings of note include a Trappist monastery, a soldier’s home and a very old pie company. With a population of 4,185, Berryville has a healthy, ironic sense of its own obscurity.

And yet, the town’s only major printer, Berryville Graphics (BVG), became in 1998 the nation’s No. 3 book manufacturer with a brand-new patent for its Duratech binding technology. This was a…

Okay, folks … I want you to be sure that you are sitting down for this one.  Sitting?  Good.  Now, take your left hand and firmly cup your jaw so that it cannot fall to the floor.  Ready?

Facebook had plans to take health records – such as a patient’s age, prescriptions and number of hospital visits – and link it to their Facebook data. Facebook had already approached hospitals and health organizations with the idea, touting that it could (somehow?) help improve patient care.  “For example, the Facebook data might reveal that a patient did not have many friends or did not receive many messages, so might need a nurse to visit them at home. It might also reveal that a patient did not speak English as their first language, which would help the hospital plan the person’s care.”  Pardon, but wouldn’t the hospital already be aware that…

on Just Publishing Advice

Getting a publisher is every author’s dream.

But beware of book contract nightmares.

Never sign a book contract with a publisher without doing your homework first.

Find out more HERE

by Ryan Lanz

For some writers, editing strikes fear into their hearts. Okay, perhaps not fear, but some discomfort. At least a stomach ache, right?

Before you reach for the antacids, let’s discuss the different methods of editing and introduce some ways that might make it less intimidating.

 on Just Publishing Advice:

As a writer, you need to understand the importance of fixing your spelling errors and grammar mistakes.

Most programs do have a spell checker built in, but not many have a grammar checker.

There are many ways you can check your grammar and make sure you publish content that is correct and engages your audience without the distraction of improper writing.

If you are not familiar with the common grammar mistakes, you need to do your research first. Once you are aware of these, you have a better chance at identifying the uncommon ones.

There are many free grammar checkers online, but you have to be careful when selecting one.

Continue reading HERE

by Lynne Cantwell  on Indies Unlimited:

Recently, I was invited to join a Facebook group whose membership includes a lot of new authors.

I’d forgotten about some of these newbie concerns.

I’d also forgotten how everybody asks the same questions over and over, to the point where those of us who have been at this for a while get kind of tired of answering them. So I thought I’d pull together some of these typical questions and answer them.

Continue reading HERE

No matter what we dream of in fantasy land, reality is always waiting to jump out from the shadows and remind authors that there is more to the job than just writing. It sucks. Many of us wish that the work will speak for itself; that readers will catch on and spread the word like wildfire.

Lala land is a nice place to visit, but it doesn’t create sales. Books are everywhere. More people are ‘writers” than ever. The market has expanded to include sub genres for sub genres but even so there is so much reading material to choose from that many bookworms stick to what they know.

Names are important in writing. When polled, readers still list the author as the most important factor in deciding to purchase a book. That hits indie authors hard when the industry is already built to favor mainstream artists.

The cutesy, “as…