This week I had a “Twitterview,” (which is an interview over Twitter) and I wanted to talk about it here because I thought the idea was so clever. You know how everyone is trying to be original and stand out? These Twitterviews do.

The Twitterview was started by Emlyn Chand, who we interviewed here a while back. After meeting her I volunteered to do a Twitterview and it was every bit as fun as I thought it might be.

The Twitter view starts with five pre-determined questions, and then five that are specifically chosen for the twitterviewee, then five that come from Twitter. Interviewees answer with “#emlyn” in their tweet, so others can follow along.

I knew by how lengthy writers get here sometimes in their interviews that it would be really difficult to limit my responses to 140 characters! I think if I were to do it again, I’d probably have different answers. Mine sounded kind of bleck, mostly because I was trying to get the basic info in there. The interview goes for about an hour, and it’s live and fun and a great way to get the word out about your books or websites.

If I were to do it again, I’d practice answering a few of the common questions so I could get more info into that 140 characters. If you do one, keep Twitter open and don’t do anything else while the interview is going on. I kept Twitter up and kept refreshing so I could get to the questions as soon as they were asked.

I mentioned my 40-some rejections from agents for my fiction work so far, and wished I would have had more room to talk more about it. A couple people seemed intrigued by that, so I may write a post here going forward to talk more about it. That’s another cool thing about this, you learn what people are interested in hearing about from you.

I hope going forward you will not only do a Twitterview yourself but you will also take part in them. You get to ask writers questions yourself and that’s always a good thing, no? So if there was anything you’ve always wanted to know? Now’s the time to ask. If you’d like to apply for a Twitterview, check out Emlyn’s page for more info.

Additional Writing Resources:

• Freelance Writers Needed
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs

Guest post by Mary Babic, from A Writer’s Assistant

Especially if you self-publish, you will want to set up a financial model. While no one can tell you with any certainty how many books you can expect to sell, you can be precise about what you will spend to get an idea of how many books you must sell to break even and then turn a profit.

More important, you need to consider opportunity cost. The time away from your business that you spend authoring a book will be time away from clients. But it is time invested in the intended return of more and usually larger client projects once you are recognized as an author.

It is a reasonable strategy to decide to break even on a book (or possibly take a loss) on your first book on the basis of book sales alone. Your real financial gain may be to your primary business, and your book may be one method of marketing for that business.

Big chain stores and Amazon.com have significantly changed the publishing industry over the past decade. The good news for the consumer: Books are less expensive and more readily available than ever. Amazon.com regularly discounts 30 percent off the retail price of books.

Where does this 30 percent come from? It comes directly from the publisher’s profits and ultimately from the author’s royalty. It is estimated that only 10 percent of books published are profitable to both publishers and authors. Because this leaves about 90 percent of books that either break even or lose money, publishers have had to decrease their costs in order to stay in business. Cost reduction usually takes the form of offering fewer services to authors, especially first-time authors. Unfortunately, they are essential services that formerly helped increase the odds of success. For instance:

• Publishers now give surprisingly little editorial guidance. Writers must be able to communicate and organize their ideas in a marketable way, a skill relatively few authors have developed.

• Writers face the significant hurdle of having to market their books. Even if an author writes an outstanding book and isn’t a promotions expert, the book may only sell a few hundred copies.

Because publishers are no longer able to help bridge the gap between author and reader, the author must be able to do it all or have the budget to hire the help she needs. Of course, this assumes she can find the right people. The learning curve is so high for a first book that most writers end up frustrated. If they’re willing to tough it out, though, they may be more successful with a second book…or they’ll never try again.

The Costs of Publishing a Book
Book publishing costs arise from three areas, and the costs can be substantial in all three whether you traditionally publish or self-publish. Here’s the story on each cost area:

1. Writing—If you publish with an established publisher, they may pay for most of the editorial costs, but you may still be responsible for some. For example, you will still spend money for book proposal coaching if you need it or for someone to write the proposal for you. You may also want to hire your own editor before you send the manuscript to the publisher. You pay any costs associated with permissions and indexing. In addition, if you make too many changes once the book has been designed, you may be asked to shell out more money for some of the corrections.

2. Publishing—If you publish with an established publisher, you won’t incur the costs of production. But if you self-publish, you must consider the expense of book design and layout, book cover design including back cover copy, prepress production, indexing, proofreading, and printing. After books are ready for sale, there are the charges of carrying inventory (unless you use a print-on-demand process), packing, and shipping (although shipping costs are ultimately passed on to the purchasers).

3. Marketing—Even if you use an established publisher, you will be responsible for most of your own promotions and any travel you do to represent the book. For the vast majority of books, a publisher will allocate a budget of $1,000 or less for marketing the book, and that just isn’t enough. The publisher may also do some collaterals—bookmarks, event posters, one-sheet flyers—but generally very few.

Here is a rough estimate of the expenditure to produce a professional-quality soft cover book in which you do most of the writing and you self-publish:

• Expected editing costs: $2,000
• Self-publishing production, book interior design, and layout: $2,500
• Proofreading: $750
• Indexing: $500
• Cover design, listings, print prep: $3,000


• First Printing: $600 (200 review copies at $3 per book, high-quality, on-demand)
• Collateral materials for book events: $2,000
• Small book launch publicity effort: press releases and follow-up to trade journals and targeted media, some local speaking and exhibiting: $3,000 to $5,000

You can expect to spend from $10,000 to $15,000 and up to self-publish a book and do some modest marketing. Additional outlay may be incurred if you desire additional help. And, of course, you can spend a lot more at each stage of the process if you don’t find a high-quality professional to work with the first time and have to redo some of the original work.

If you have any questions please visit www.awritersassistant.com

Image: Morguefile

Additional Writing Resources:

• Freelance Writers Needed
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs

Also:

• Free ebook on work at home success strategies

Happy 50th birthday to writer Neil Gaiman! Being the innovative dude that he is, he created a Twitter hashtag (#neil50) that has made the rounds this morning.

Neil is an inspiration to many writers, both because of his creativity and also the fact that he’s managed to be successful in a number of different genres. He seems to have a fabulous life, so I’m sure he will have a fabulous birthday as well. He wrote on his blog, “I’m glad I’m a writer. There are a lot of professions in which you’re done by my age. And I don’t feel done at all.”

I’m sure he’s got a lot more to wow us with for the next 50 years.

Additional Writing Resources:

• Make Money From Home – Real Jobs You Can Do by Telecommuting
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs

When proving copyright on a work, it is important to document the date the work was created. “Poor Man’s Copyright” is when an author mails himself a copy of his work and keeps the envelope sealed. The date of the postmark is intended to prove copyright.

However, Poor Man’s Copyright is not recognized as a legal method of proving authorship. Therefore, if authors are looking for protection that can be used in court, registering their work with the U.S. Copyright Office is recommended.

It should be noted, however, that an author’s work “is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device,” according to the U.S. Copyright Office. In other words, the work is “copyrighted” from the moment it is created. Registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is only needed if an author wishes to bring suit at some point for copyright infringement.

__________________________________________
Additional resources:

• eBook Starter – Create Your Own Ebooks
• Complete Guide to Profit on eBooks
• Write Your Own eBook in 7 Days

I caught some interesting statements floating around the blogosphere from my author friends recently at the news that Janet Evanovich signed a four-book deal with Random House. She had been with St. Martin’s for years and has been selling her “Stephanie Plum” mystery series like hotcakes. She’s hot. No doubt.

My first reaction was, “Yay” and “Good for her.” I like it when an author hauls in the big bucks. It gives me a good feeling with regard to the reading and publishing worlds because it means people are reading and interested in books. So that’s why it surprised me to see some authors feeling a bit ticked off. As if Ms. Evanovich’s deal somehow takes away from their potential book contracts.
You know what? It doesn’t.

Writer Envy

One author said, “Why doesn’t she spread the wealth?” Meaning that she should have taken less money, I suppose. But why should she? Evanovich taking this deal doesn’t mean the average author is now going to get less. It doesn’t mean aspiring authors won’t get a book deal.

I think it comes down to professional jealousy. Authors are prone to it sometimes. I suppose that we toil for years and put our hearts and souls into our work, so when we get rejected we get crabby. We feel as if we are getting the short end. Then, to make matters worse, we hear about the success of another writer and it just gets in our craw.

The Success of One Writer Helps Us All

Here’s the thing I’d like to say to my fellow writers. I am one of you. I understand what it’s like to get a book rejected, to have a client tell you “no thanks,” and to see my fellow writers getting opportunities I wish I could have. I understand where you are coming from, but when a writer succeeds at the level Evanovich does, you’ve got to take your hat off for her. She’s earned it. It doesn’t matter if you, personally, don’t read her books. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re a “better writer.” The writing world is changing, and that means each and every writer needs to be supportive of the others in this game. You won’t sell less books if you are happy for another writer. You won’t lose fans if you publicly state you enjoy the work of another author.

More than that, with all the changes in the publishing industry today, writers need to support each other. We need to build each other up, because in the long run, it makes the entire publishing industry stronger. And that helps all of us.

__________________________________________
Additional resources:

• eBook Starter – Create Your Own Ebooks
• Complete Guide to Profit on eBooks
• Write Your Own eBook in 7 Days

Amazon.com has helped level the playing field for the publishing world. Small publishers can have their books listed right alongside major publishers. Amazon’s large inventory makes it a key distributing source for many smaller or self-publishers. It’s worth having your book listed there if you’re serious about selling copies.

The same is true for ebooks. The only way to get your ebook listed on Amazon is to format it for the Kindle. Luckily, it’s easy to do. With two simple steps you can have your ebook listed on Amazon.

Digital Text Platform

Amazon uses their Digital Text Platform (DTP), which is an online self-publishing tool that lets you format ebooks for Kindle and upload them to the Amazon store. You need an Amazon account (which is free to set up), a digital copy of your book, a cover image, and information such as publisher and author. If you have an ISBN, have that handy as well. An ISBN is a good idea to have for an ebook, but Amazon does not require it for Kindle products. Before you log on you should also have an idea of how you want to price your ebook.

To begin, log on to Amazon’s Digital Text Platform. You’ll be asked to sign in (or sign up at the bottom if you don’t already have an account). When you are signed in, you’ll see an “Add New Item” button. Click it.

Enter Information About Your Book

You’ll see two tabs at the top, one is for “Your Book” and one is for “Rights and Pricing.” Start with the “Your Book” information. Enter items such as author and book title. A drop down window allows you to choose other names to put in, such as illustrator or narrator. If you have additional people you want to add, feel free to include these as well.

Choose a category that your ebook fits into. If you’re unsure about this, open a separate browser window and look through the books section on Amazon. This will help you determine which section would be a good fit for your ebook. Choosing the right section is important because it can help your ebook appear next to similar ebooks. When someone is browsing through the site it can direct them to your ebook where they might have missed it before.

Choose keywords that represent your book. Again, keywords help work with Amazon’s algorithms to suggest items to a consumer who has been searching for books that are similar to yours. Amazon is known for their “may we suggest” software that gives consumers options to an item they have already purchased, or even surfed to on the site.

You’ll be prompted to enter some details of your book, including language (English, etc.), publication date, and ownership (which means either you wrote the book or it is in the public domain.)

Upload the Cover and Manuscript

Next, you’ll upload your cover image. Cover is extremely important in book choice. A pleasing cover will help attract people to your ebook and encourage them to find out more about it. When you upload your cover, it will be used on the site but will not be a part of your actual ebook.

After the cover, it’s time to upload your manuscript. You’ll be asked to choose whether you want “digital rights management,” which refers to your preference on sharing the book. In other words, do you want someone to be able to copy and share the book with someone else? If so, leave it unchecked. If you want restrictions on whether the person can share your book, check the box.

Amazon will accept manuscripts in Microsoft Word (.doc), PDF, or .html files. Word (.doc) is generally the easiest to work with in this situation. To upload your file, browse to find the document and upload it. It takes a few minutes to do this, because the DTP is converting your file to a Kindle file.

Rights and Pricing of Your Ebook

After this you will go to the “Rights and Pricing” side of things. First, click the appropriate rights you have for your book. If you are the publisher, you can determine any rights you wish. (In most cases, you will have “worldwide rights.”)

Now, choose the royalty you wish to receive. You have a choice between 35% or 70%. In order to get a 70% royalty, your ebook needs to be priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Choose your option, then enter your ebook price. When you do this, Amazon will calculate a delivery fee for the book, and give you a net amount which will be the dollar figure you will make per ebook download.

You’re almost done! Click “Save and Publish.” Books generally take between 24-48 hours to be listed on the Amazon site.

__________________________________________
Additional resources:

• eBook Starter – Create Your Own Ebooks
• Complete Guide to Profit on eBooks
• Write Your Own eBook in 7 Days

Of all the questions I get from people who wonder about writing (freelance, novel writing, blogging, or otherwise), is how much people really make. It can be a difficult thing to answer, mainly because it various widely – and I mean widely - and because sometimes writer’s lie. They don’t mean to mislead (probably) but sometimes they throw out figures that simply are loaded with blarney.

The Blogger Who Makes a Full-Time Income

Let me give you an example. A few years ago I was new to blogging, and stumbled across a blogger who claimed that he regularly made X dollars per month from Google. The figure was pretty impressive, I must admit. And just from Google? I sapped up every piece of advice this person dolled out. I read their blog all the time, and saw a few more references to this X dollar figure. Almost a year later, this person announced that they had hit a new revenue high, and would finally surpass X dollar figure. (And yes, X dollar figure is the same in both these examples.) This whole thing tells me that this blogger was exaggerating slightly on the first announcement of “regularly making X” and might have even been fibbing on the second announcement.

The Lesson: Why would someone do this? First, because I think the point they were trying to make was that it is possible to make good money from blogging. They rounded up, because they thought it was no biggie. This is my guess.

The Writer With the Huge Advance

A second example is this: Another writer announced that she had received a huge advance check for her latest book, and was so excited she couldn’t stop shaking. She regularly blogged about how awesome and cool and huge this check was. I was happy for her, to be sure. She seemed like a nice person (although she was one of those online pals that you never get to meet). But when you talk about a huge royalty check, what figure comes to mind? Your mind races a bit, doesn’t it? The possibility…. but the writer in me likes to get the facts. I wasn’t the only one. People on her blog started asking her “How much is it?” She finally divulged that it was $3,000.

The Lesson: She was excited. This was big money to her. Big, huge, money. Great for her! I hope it continues. But is $3,000 huge? Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy to get a book deal and advance, but I guess huge wouldn’t be the term I would use for that number.

Book Sales Coming Out of Left Field

My third example is a writer who said their books were selling “right and left” and also “coming out of left field.” What do you imagine when you hear this? Hundreds? Thousands? Big, respectable, sales numbers. In reality, however, I found out that “out of left field” meant anywhere from 2-15 books a month. At most, no more than 250 a year.

The Lesson: Selling any number of books is a good thing. But using the term “selling right and left” gives me a different impression.

Putting It All in Perspective

The point is, writers get excited, and tell you things that you have to put in perspective. It isn’t that everyone is fibbing, it’s just that sometimes what they think is huge money isn’t going to be what you think it is. Remember how recently I said there is no such thing as the exact same writing career for every writer? That applies to opinions on money, also.

One reason I think writers do this is because they want to encourage people. And that’s a great thing. They want to tell people that writing for a living is a possibility, and I would agree with that statement 100%. But take the facts and digest them. Perhaps the blogger who is successful also sells ebooks and consulting in addition to ads. Perhaps the novelist has a part-time job (or a rich hubby to pay the bills.) Perhaps, for the debt they have and where they live, the number they quote can buy a whole lot more groceries than it could for most everyone else right now. Take all these things into consideration when you hear them.

Finding Out How Much Writers Really Make

So where do you find out exactly how much writers make? After all, it is very helpful to know what others make so you know what’s possible for you. You can’t copy someone else’s career, but you can get an idea of the possibilities.

Here are some tips:

• When you become friends with writers and develop trust, you can ask them.
• Read book advance estimates at places like Writer’s Digest or Writer’s Market.
• Read between the lines. For example, if a writer says they are making $5 per ebook profit, and then a month later says they sell 100 ebooks a month, you have an idea of what they making, even tho they didn’t put these two figures together in the same post.
• If a writer can prove earnings, that’s a pretty good indicator that they are telling the truth. Paula Mooney, for example, has a video that shows her earnings from one site she writes for.
• Believe reasonable numbers over inflated numbers. There are actually a lot of writers today posting their earnings, which is helpful. Many of these figures are not high, but I tend to believe them because they are from people who have taken their time to build their business, aren’t talking about crazy get rich quick stuff, and work really darn hard to get where they are. I recently interviewed Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen and she said she makes $3,000 a month from her blogs. I believe this because I remember a few years back when she said she made like $1,000 a month from her blogs. She talks about how she does it, and a lot of it is hard work and time. This seems doable. Her numbers have grown over time. She didn’t come right out of the gate making $3,000, but now she does because she has a system in place.
• Understand that salaries vary widely for online writers. There are a lot of us writing online. Some writers choose to be arrogant and say we are wasting our time. Some claim it’s the best thing ever. The reality, like most things, falls somewhere in between. Writing sites love to brag about their big money makers, but when you hear these figures understand that it might not be steady (meaning, every single month) and it most likely isn’t every writer on the site. That doesn’t mean you can’t make money that way, it means you have to be smart about what you believe.
• For everything you read, take it all with a grain of salt. Be a skeptic. We’re writers, for pete’s sake, we’re born to question things and find out more. Dig. Search. Ask.
• Understand that everything changes.  Rates can change, income sources can fluctuate, affiliates can go away, sites can close… and all of it affects us.  The best thing you can do as a writer is diversify your income so you don’t just rely on one thing (book, blog, client, site).

More resources on publishing and novel writing:

• Write a novel in 60 days
• Get Published: Take your book from manuscript to the masses with self-publishing and print-on-demand from CreateSpace.
• Write an ebook in 7 days
• Real Writing Jobs

When people think of self-publishing these days, they usually call to mind the services of a vanity press. But several authors are starting their own small publishing houses to get their books out to the market. There are many reasons for this. Some want better control over the price and placement of their book, some feel they can make more money in the long run, and some feel that the traditional publishing world as it stands is not right for them.

Whatever your reason, starting your own self-publishing company can be a worthwhile enterprise, and can even garner a following for your books. If you’re thinking of starting your own publishing company, here are some steps to assist you.

Find Out About Your State’s Laws on Starting a Small Business

A publishing company is essentially a small business, so it requires many of the same rules to get it started. Each individual state in the U.S. has their own set of rules on how to start up a small business, and the government also offers advice through the Small Business Administration. The first step is to find out exactly what you need for your state’s location. Some states require a business license, while others require bank account numbers and more.

Check With a Tax Consultant

While the taxes for a publishing company do not need to be complicated, it’s always best to check with a tax professional on how to organize your company (sole proprietor, limited partnership, etc.) ,and also how to keep track of the taxes you’ll owe for federal and state. Even if your income is derived mainly from an online business, a tax consultant can help you determine what you might need to pay.

Choose a Name

Choose a name that is different from your own, as it will help you distinguish yourself as a serious publisher, rather than just an author who wants to sell books. The distinction is important, because you will be competing side-by-side with the larger publishing organizations.

Dan Poynter, who is known as the “father of self-publishing,” because he started his own company in 1973, chose the name Para Publishing, because it reflected his first love, which is hang gliding. Many of his books are also about para-sailing. The name helps build credibility for him.

Another reason to choose a name different from your own is because self-published books still have a perception as being lower in quality than traditionally published books. You’ll combat that perception by using a name that doesn’t call attention to the fact that your own company published the work.

Purchase ISBNs

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a 13 digital number that indentifies your book or ebook. Distributors, libraries, and online retail sites all use ISBNs. There are over 160 agencies throughout the world that sell ISBNs. In the United States, Bowker is the official agency to obtain a block of them. The cost for a single ISBN is $125, or $275 for a block of ten. There are also discounts for larger blocks ($995 for 100 ISBNs, and $1,750 for 1000 ISBNs.) Most smaller publishers purchase the block of ten for $275.

A separate ISBN is assigned to each format and edition of your book. For example, if you have a paperback book, a hardcover, and an ebook version of your work, you would need three different ISBNs.

Choose a Printer and Distributor

Today, most self-publishers choose a print-on-demand (POD) approach for their books, as opposed to using a local printing house. Which method might be right for you depends on your purpose with each book. POD means you will likely pay more per book to have it published, but you will not have to invest a large sum up front in order to do a print run. For example, with POD you can print ten books to keep on hand, and those might cost you $2 each to get them printed. With a traditional print run, however, you may pay a much lower cost per book (say, $1 each) if you order a large (5,000 or more) run. With a traditional printer, the more you print, the lower the cost per book. A list of major book printers for small publishers is listed on the Bowker site.

The advantage with POD for a small publisher is that you only need to pay for a small amount of books, as few as just one copy. The digital copy of your book stays on file with the POD company, and when you need another copy (or copies), then you simply order what you need. This saves on upfront and storage costs.

Most smaller publishers today use POD for the reasons outlined above. There are two main companies that deal with POD publishing and distribution. The books printed with them are of high quality, and using them automatically gets your book listed on the larger online outlets. These two companies are Lightning Source and TextStream. With either company you upload a digital copy of your book (usually in Word or PDF format), a cover image, pricing information, retailer discount, and author royalty information. The books then get loaded on their system and are available through their distribution channels (which often include Barnes and Noble.com, Amazon.com, Powell’s, and more). Publishing this way can be cost-effective (about $100 per book to start out) and an easy way to get a book quickly to market.

Additional self-publishing resources:

• Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)
• The 53 Biggest Self-Publishing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
• Self-Publishing For Dummies

I was so sad to hear about the death of Stephen J. Cannell this past weekend. Cannell is really one of those writers who had an enviable career. He worked in TV, was featured on TV even recently, and wrote books. He even had a production company that was taking some of his TV shows and turning them into feature films.

You’ll remember the shows that he wrote and created, because they had a very distinct logo at the end. It’s the one where Cannell is typing and then pulls the paper out and tosses it over his shoulder. It’s shown in the various versions over the years here:

Cannell really worked on a lot of great shows, like 21 Jump Street (which was probably the only time I liked Johnny Depp in something), The Rockford Files, and The A-Team. That’s not all, though. He also had hits with Greatest American Hero, Riptide, Hardcastle & McCormick, The Commish, and Silk Stalkings. Man, I love all these shows! I really enjoyed Cannell’s work.

Lately, he was seen on another favorite show of mine, Castle. I’ve gushed about this show enough to choke a horse. I adore the writing, and of course no one does a character like Rick Castle better than Nathan Fillion. Castle is a show Cannell could have written.

I never read his Shane Scully novels, but if there are as good as his TV shows I will have to put them on my TBR list.

RIP Stephen Cannell, we will miss you.

Additional Writing Resources:

• Make Money From Home – Real Jobs You Can Do by Telecommuting
• Create Multiple Articles from Just One
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs

There’s a stereotype about writers that’s hard to shake from your subconscious; namely, that they’re a bunch of boozy sad sacks who suffer so much for their art that they usher themselves into early, bitter graves by addiction to their vices. Jack Kerouac died of cirrhosis from a life of heavy drinking; Ernest Hemingway turned a shotgun on himself; David Foster Wallace hung himself after a lifetime of clinical depression. But these sad stories have a way of clouding the fact that, all urban legends and poetic posturing aside, many authors live long lives that end as a result of age, illness, or any of the number of causes that usually take someone. The writers listed below spent their lives creating works of art, and they lived long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor. It’s nice to remember that art doesn’t have to exact such a high cost.

1. Isaac Asimov: Isaac Asimov got a lot done in his 72 years: in addition to being a professor of biochemistry, he was a titan in the sci-fi world, with his name on more than 500 books as author or editor. The epic Foundation series was one of most popular and acclaimed works, and his Three Laws of Robotics became a foundational bedrock for many of his writings. He also produced a number of history volumes in later life, examining the Greeks, the Romans, and the Egyptians. He received multiple awards and more than a dozen honorary doctorates in lengthy and influential career. He died in 1992 after some earlier health problems including a heart attack, and years later it was revealed that some of the complications were a result of HIV contracted during a blood transfusion.

2. Patricia Highsmith: Born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1921, Patricia Highsmith was acclaimed for her suspenseful psychological thrillers, most notably the Tom Ripley franchise. Her debut novel was Strangers on a Train, adapted into a successul film by Alfred Hitchcock, and The Talented Mr. Ripley would go on to inspire multiple film versions. Highsmith, a lesbian, often created works with gay undertones, marking her as one of the more progressive authors of the mid-20th century. She wound up publishing 22 novels and eight short-story collections before dying of leukemia in 1995 at age 74.

3. James Baldwin: James Baldwin was another gay writer notable for tackling issues of sex and race long before others were so open about it. He debuted with the semi-autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain in 1953, and would go on to explore race and class and a variety of other issues with his incisive essays and fiction work. He also became active in the civil rights movement, and his 1972 nonfiction work No Name in the Street examined the movement and the death of major leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King Jr. Baldwin died at age 63 in 1987 from esophageal cancer, leaving behind an influential body of work that continues to challenge and inspire.

4. L. Frank Baum: L. Frank Baum left an indelible mark on children’s literature with 1900’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which remains a classic thanks in no small part to the beloved 1939 film. What some forget that is that Baum also wrote thirteen sequels to create an immensely detailed fantasy franchise, and he also wrote scores of other novels, short stories, and poetry. Baum also campaigned for women’s suffrage. He died of a stroke in 1919, not long before he would have turned 63.

5. Ken Kesey: Ken Kesey was a prominent counterculture figure during the tumultuous 1960s, though he considered himself something of a lost man between the earlier beatniks and later hippies. After a small start, Kesey gained prominence with 1962’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which he got the inspiration to write after working the night shift at a veterans’ hospital. It became an instant success and was soon adapted into a stage play, followed in 1975 by the classic film version starring Jack Nicholson. He released Sometimes a Great Notion in 1964 and joined a few other countercultural dignitaries (including Neal Cassady) to form the “Merry Pranksters” and travel across the country getting high and being vaguely philosophical. An believer in art until the end of his days, his final major work as a Rolling Stone essay published shortly after 9/11 in which he advocated for peace. He died in November 2001 after a series of compounded health problems. He was 66.

6. Pearl S. Buck: The daughter of Southern Presbyterian missionaries, Pearl S. Buck grew up in China and spent a large part of her life there. Seeing events like the Boxer Rebellion and the Nanking Incident firsthand had an effect on her, influencing her humanitarian efforts. Ner 1931 novel The Good Earth was the bestselling book in the U.S. for that year and the next, and the story about a Chinese village won her the Pulitzer in 1932. Yet her diverse bibliography includes many more novels and a host of nonfiction titles, many about China, and a variety of short story collections. She died in 1973 of lung cancer, at the age of 80, and her name remains synonymous with smart, passionate writing about justice and humanity.

7. Ralph Ellison: Ralph Ellison won a National Book Award for Invisible Man, his 1952 novel about what it meant to be black in America in the early 20th century. The novel is regarded as one of the best in modern literature, but Ellison was also noted for his critical writings. Shadow and Act, from 1964, is an essay collection spanning twenty years of life and reflection on culture and class. He lived to be 80, dying in 1994 of pancreatic cancer. Some of his unfinished works were published posthumously.

8. Michael Crichton: Michael Crichton died in 2008 at the age of 66 after a quiet battle with cancer. He left behind an impressive body of sci-fi and adventure fiction that probed the meaning of humanity and the cost of technological advancement. He remains the only artist ever to have No. 1 hits simultaneously in TV, movies, and books, a feat he accomplished in 1994 with (respectively) ER, Jurassic Park, and Disclosure. His career gathered steam in the 1970s and ’80s with thrillers like The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man, and Sphere, and in later life he became a prominent public speaker on a variety of scientific subjects, including the complexity of global warming.

9. Philip K. Dick: Easily one of the most influential and pioneering writers in science fiction — not to mention one of the most adapted, with nine of his stories turned into films — Philip K. Dick is known for creating fantastical, intriguing worlds that use outlandish ideas to explore our own. The Man in the High Castle, set in a world in which the Axis won World War II, is a harrowing examination of authoritarian control, while stories like “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and “The Minority Report” dealt with memory and fate in compelling ways. Unfortunately, many mainstream audiences and critics didn’t begin to embrace his work until it was almost too late. Dick died after having a stroke in March 1982, at the age of 53, having written dozens of novels and more than 100 short stories.

10. Marion Zimmer Bradley: Born during the Great Depression, Marion Zimmer Bradley started publishing fantasy novels and short stories in the 1950s. She created a series of works set on the fictional planet of Darkover, and she also wrote myriad other works in straightforward and pulp styles, but she’s best known for her 1982 novel The Mists of Avalon, which retells the stories of King Arthur from the points of view of the female characters. The work explored the potential oppression that can come with the spread of religion, and the perpetual battle between a character’s fate and their free will. She died in 1999 at age 69 after several years of failing health. Her impressive bibliography remains some of the most popular fantasy writing in recent memory.

Post courtesy of Online Certificate Programs.

Additional Writing Resources:

• Make Money From Home – Real Jobs You Can Do by Telecommuting
• Create Multiple Articles from Just One
• How to Write Your Own Ebook in 7 Days
• Freelance Writing Jobs