Big Ideas by Kate Gardiner

Do Newsletters Work?

#Newsletters work for most people if they tell a story and are consistent. I think they work very well for the digital human, and they can work for a company, primarily if individuals have the time and inclination to regularly contribute to them and build them. They take a lot more time than you’d imagine — so there’s that. I’ve talked to a lot of folks who want to do a newsletter and don’t want to put in the time, and frankly, there’s no rhyme or reason to that.

MORE >
Your initial audience is largely the people you already know, and then your growth is largely mechanical

Should I have a website for my writing clips?

Yes, you should. First of all, I would argue that almost everyone needs to have their own website if only to guard against other people sitting on the URL for your name and pretending that they're you.

MORE >
I have had my own website since I was seventeen and I have used it more or less my entire life

What Does The Book Publishing Timeline Look Like (part 2)?

(Read part 1 here.)

(In which the saga of Bob’s publishing journey continues). So, a smart and savvy Bob fought to get a pub date between January and March or September and November. (Perhaps Bob has been reading our favorite publishing newsletter, Neon Literary’s “How to Glow in the Dark”, for more insider tips: https://buff.ly/3JOTpV4) You should do this!

MORE >
Most books will have a period of about six weeks to attain coverage

What Does the Book Publishing Timeline Look like (Part 1)?

Last week someone reached out to me about a book they considered finished (nope) and wanted to know if they could get it out to the world, preferably tomorrow (also nope). We’ll call that person “Bob”. To be fair to Bob, Beyoncé did drop an entire secret album and set expectations that stuff just appears and everyone talks about it. But Bob is not Beyoncé, and neither are you.

MORE >
Authors should save ten to thirty percent of the advance for marketing to supplement whatever support their publisher offers

How can you document your work so that it doesn't vanish?

A lot of writers have been having issues with their portfolios because publications are completely disappearing from the internet and so all that hard work of yours is gone, which is really, really frustrating.

MORE >
For every piece you publish, save the link, then create a PDF of your work in an internal archive.