Linda Howard Urbach

Author, 'Madame Bovary's Daughter'

Dear Big Chance Book Awards: My question is, why didn't I even make the semi-final list of over 8,0000 aspiring writers? Are you kidding me? I want my entry fee refunded or I'll report you to the Attorney General. Yours, sincerely, etc. etc.

Frederic Colier

Writer, Host Book Case TV

What does it mean to have a voice, one that from the first line grabs you and remains with you long after the last one? A strong, unique voice aligned with all the elements of life? Such is the question I have been mulling over of late.

Penny C. Sansevieri

Author and CEO, Marketing Experts, Inc.

Okay readers, listen up. This one is for you. Being an author isn't easy, in fact it's a pretty tough job. We write our books for you and, in return, ...

Daley James Francis

Writer. Terrence Malick meets Terrance and Phillip.

When that eureka moment hits you though, what happens next? That huge PDF file on your computer isn't going to leap out and sell itself. You have to know how to put it out to your audience and go through the steps you need to take to get it ready for consumption.

Mark Brennan Rosenberg

Author, 'Blackouts and Breakdowns' and 'Eating My Feelings'

To the untrained eye, I was the epitome of a successful writer -- speaking at colleges across the country, promoting my book. Could I tell them that several of my nights on the road were spent in a car in order to save money?

David Henry Sterry

Author, activist, performer, muckraker, book doctor

When we first met Virginia Pye three years ago, she'd been writing and rewriting a novel for a very long time.

Norris J. Chumley, Ph.D.

Author/Producer "Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer" & Host of "Rethinking Religion" on national public radio

Not so long ago anything but a peer-reviewed article or book printed by an established academic press was all that found its way onto a curriculum vitae. But times are changing exponentially fast.

Maureen Johnson

Author

If you are a female author, you are much more likely to get a package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality. We're the high fructose corn syrup of literature, even when our products are the same.

Linda Howard Urbach

Author, 'Madame Bovary's Daughter'

I was in the middle of reading the Death of Bees, Lisa O'Donnell's first novel and I thought, why am I reading this? Was it because it was recommended...

Rob Asghar

University Fellow, USC Center on Public Diplomacy

A less-well known group of literary figures have taken an opposite approach to championing books -- by capitalizing on the very changes that have even spooked thriller novelist James Patterson.

Penny C. Sansevieri

Author and CEO, Marketing Experts, Inc.

For years publishers have insisted that what happened to the music industry won't happen to them. Yet when we see what's happening in publishing I fail to find an instance where publishers aren't subscribing to the same model music companies did.

J.E. Fishman

Author of Primacy, Cadaver Blues and The Dark Pool

Let's sit down, break bread, and figure out how to guarantee that books by all writers, big and small, will have a prosperous future.

Will Weaver

Author, 'The Survivors'

Objecting to a well-connected, in-your-corner agent taking 15 percent for selling your novel to an actual publisher is a sure sign that you're not ready for prime time.

Monica Edinger

Teacher, Writer, Critic

I was fortunate enough to meet Mrs. Konigsburg a few times. My favorite memory of these was at a late evening drinks reception where I sat with her and a handful of others on bar stools around a small high table, quite starry-eyed to be included.

Lisa Guest

Lisa is a guest on the planet...

I remember what it is like to go for an orgasm but never get there. That was my experience in my 20s. Since then, thanks to many metaphors, I've learned how to slide right over the edge into ecstasy.

Evelyne Politanoff

Arts blogger, Publisher of Trouvaillesdujour

Afraid of the Dark, A Venetian Story is a book project containing Stephan Brigidi's photographs and stories based upon his many sojourns to Venice, an...