Real Talk for Writers
with Isabel Sterling
Author & Master Certified Coach
How (and when!) you make money from publishing a book is affected by a number of different sections of your publishing contract.
It's not just about the size of your advance!
In this issue of Real Talk for Writers, I'm breaking down the major sections of a typical publishing contract that impact ...
Understanding the different terms in your publishing contract -- and how they can affect your career -- is an essential part of building a confident author career.
While your agent should be able to explain the different parts of your contract to you, I know many authors are reluctant to ask.
So,...
It's time to talk about the least favorite stage of the publication process for most authors: Pass pages.
If you've never done pass pages before, this is when your publishing team has taken your copyedited manuscript and formatted it for printing. It's often the first time you're seeing the specifi...
Welcome to the final installment of our four-part series of essential skills for published novelists!
As a reminder, the overall categories are:
- Essential Writing Skills
- Essential Marketing Skills
- Essential Emotional Skills
- Essential Business Skills (today's post!)
Before I share the ess...
Welcome to the third in our four-part series of essential skills for published novelists!
As a reminder, the overall categories are:
- Essential Writing Skills
- Essential Marketing Skills
- Essential Emotional Skills (today's post!)
- Essential Business Skills
Before I share the essential emoti...
Welcome to the second in our four-part series of essential skills for published novelists!
As a reminder, the overall categories are:
- Essential Writing Skills
- Essential Marketing Skills (today's post!)
- Essential Emotional Skills
- Essential Business Skills
Before I share my thoughts about m...
Welcome to the first in a four-part series of essential skills for published novelists!
Full-disclosure: I started this as one big post of essential skills for debuts... and then quickly realized a two things:
1 - I had way too much to say to confine this to one post
2 - These are skills that a...
You sold your novel! Hurray!
Now... Where in the world will your book release?
Well, it depends.
Let's talk publication territories!
World vs World English vs North American Rights
When your agent sells your book to a traditional publisher, one of the things they'll negotiate is where in t...
It's royalty season!
At least, for my books that were published by Razorbill (which was folded into Putnam a few years back).
If you missed my initial royalty break down (which included additional details about the first royalty period for each book), you can check that out here.
"What do I do if my first draft is genuinely a heaping pile of garbage?"
We've all had a moment like this. You've finished the first draft, maybe even let it sit and cool off for a few days or weeks, and then you dive in to figure out what you need to revise before the book goes off to your editor....
If you have a complicated relationship with goal setting, this post is for you.
There are many different schools of thought when it comes to goal setting, and while there are benefits to each type...they often fall short of addressing the unique needs of novelists.
It can be hard to predict what ...
With the end of the year fast approaching, many authors (myself included) are looking ahead to the goals we have for 2026.
And if you have a book coming out next year, you may have had some version of this thought:
"I really hope this book doesn't fail."
While I get where this worry comes from, I...
