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Ten ways self-publishing has changed the books world

Blog, Writing - April 22, 2013 Ron Brackin 0 comments

As the DIY approach gains more and more writers and readers, traditional publishers must reinvent themselves Books world rearranged … last year’s London Book Fair. Photograph: Graeme Robertson by Alison Baverstock After a boom year in self-publishing the headlines are getting a little predictable. Most featureREAD MORE

7 Deadly Myths and 3 Inspired Truths About Book Editing

Blog, Writing - April 15, 2013 Ron Brackin 0 comments

David Kudler’s delightful article was originally written as a guest blog post for a self-publishing resource site; it sparked a lot of great conversation and feedback, and it occurred to me that the information might be of interest to a more general readership. If you’ve everREAD MORE

God’s opinion of Iraq

Blog, Ghostwriting, Islam, Kingdom of God, Middle East - January 12, 2013 Ron Brackin 0 comments

In 2004, about nine months after Coalition troops went into Iraq, I flew to Baghdad to begin researching a book about God’s opinion of the infamous nation that had captured world headlines for so long. I had already traced Iraq in all its iterations–Assyria, Babylon,READ MORE

God’s opinion of Iraq II

Blog, Ghostwriting, Islam, Middle East - January 11, 2013 Ron Brackin 0 comments

On February 9, 2012, I received a telephone call from a dear friend in Amman, Jordan. “Guess who is with me,” he said, uncharacteristically playful. It was my friend from Baghdad. We spent a few minutes catching up, and then I asked him two hardREAD MORE

Books: the new business card

Blog, Ghostwriting - January 3, 2013 Ron Brackin 0 comments

You’re a businessman or professional. You meet a prospective client. He hands you his business card. You hand him a copy of your book. Suddenly, you are no longer just another businessman or professional. You’re an expert. You just gained more credibility than you couldREAD MORE

Becoming a ghost

Blog, Writing - December 17, 2012 Ron Brackin 0 comments

I doubt that many people gave much thought to ghost writers until the movie came out. I liked it because it made ghost writing look romantic and exotic and exciting. And sometimes it is. In 2002, at the height of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and theREAD MORE

THC to you, too!

News commentary - December 12, 2012 Ron Brackin 0 comments

Pot is legit now for medical patients in 18 states. Colorado and Washington, however, took a giant step beyond the scrip pad and said everybody can light up. What were they thinking? Even Amsterdam, with its public weed cafes, this week had to ban marijuanaREAD MORE

A fine-sounding argument

Islam, Kingdom of God - December 11, 2012 Ron Brackin 0 comments

A Deadly Misunderstanding (by Mark D. Siljander, HarperOne, 2008), is the thread of a notion woven into an anecdotal, historical and autobiographical fabric. From the Foreword, written by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, through pages populated by African and Middle Eastern potentates, to sober endorsements byREAD MORE

No “Christmas,” Mr. Dickens

Random - November 30, 2012 Ron Brackin 0 comments

The Library of Congress
 101 Independence Ave, SE Washington, DC 20540 November 30, 2012 Mr. Charles Dickens c/o Chapman & Hall, Publishers 186 Strand, London, NW1 In Re: “A Christmas Carol” Dear Mr. Dickens, We regret to inform you that your novella entitled “A Christmas Carol”READ MORE

WYSIWYG for writers

Writing - November 24, 2012 Ron Brackin 0 comments

Every computer geek is familiar with the principle of GIGO (garbage-in-garbage-out). The same principle applies to writing. If you want to write well, it helps to avoid a diet of literary junk food. I personally lean toward the classics, but there are also many fineREAD MORE