Twilight Times Books (Ebook), ISBN pending
All right, I'll fess-up. Since I spend hours each day at my computer, writing as well as emailing and surfing, the prospect of reading a book on the screen doesn't exactly float my boat. Some writers worry about contracting carpal tunnel; I fret about eyestrain. However, I found Practical Tips for Online Authors a refreshing pleasure. 

Quillen states that the book "is not a detailed 'how-to' manual, rather I simply offer tips, advice and resources to help you get started on your chosen endeavors." And how! Sample query letters, promotion advice, research tools, web page and ezine design are but a few of the dozens of topics covered, with more than 600 current links. This chronic over-achiever did not take the time to follow them all, but the ones I did check gave me no trouble. Several I recognized as places where the owner recently switched to a custom domain name. In addition, Quillen invites readers to submit their favorite links for consideration in future editions. 

While unabashedly geared for the "prepublished" ebook author of speculative fiction, much of the advice crosses genre boundaries and proves useful to writers aiming for traditional print markets, as well. In fact, with the Internet becoming a major force in the world of book marketing, authors at all rungs of the literary ladder of success will benefit from this handy and well-organized reference. The hypertext references make it easy to skip to specific topics within the book. 

Those who may still be fence sitting with regard to the viability of electronic publishing ought to find Chapter 6 of particular interest. This chapter features remarks by Eguild president Steve Lazarowitz and best-selling ebook author Leta Nolan Childers that put to death many of the myths hounding the quality and availability of books printed in electronic bindings. Like it or not, the technology is here to stay. 

Now, if someone could just invent a preventive measure for the eyestrain! 

Kim D. Headlee 

Kim D. Headlee is the author of Blue Boa Award winner Dawnflight, a novel about the legend of Guinevere garnering rave reviews and other award nominations from romance and fantasy venues alike.

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