Posts by Michael
Be like Samwise and Frodo and Help a Writer Out
In this guest post, Sharon Wagner, author of The Levitation Game, considers ways that writers (and friends and family of writers) can help support fellow writers. Friendship isn’t like a Lifetime movie. Often, our tribe can disappoint us. No one knows this better than a newbie writer. Most of us are counting on our friends…
Read MoreCrafting an International Story
In this guest author post, author Jeannée Sacken, author of the award-winning Annie Hawkins series, discusses how she crafts a story set in another country. My first three novels, the multiple award-winning Annie Hawkins Series, were all set primarily in Afghanistan—a place I’ve never been, although I’ve spent time in other nearby countries. My fourth…
Read MoreOrange Hat Activities from One Year Ago
On March 28, 2024, Orange Hat’s founder (and then owner) Shannon Ishizaki and I sat down for coffee to talk about the wild and obviously ridiculous idea of me purchasing Orange Hat. I had a list of questions prepared. Here are some of them: Why now? Are there publishing opportunities you wish you could pursue?…
Read MoreThe Editor’s Job is to Ask Questions
I was talking with one of my editors this morning. She was worried her edits would not be helpful to the author. Her doubt stemmed from all the issues she’d flagged in the manuscript, like repetitive language, anachronistic details, and certain scenes that might ring false to readers informed on the topic. Because she didn’t…
Read MoreThree Things to Remember When Publishing a Memoir
In this guest author post, memoirist Amy Sazama, author of Fleetwood Dreams, reflects on her own writing, publishing, and promoting experience. In 2024, I am publishing my memoir Fleetwood Dreams, recounting growing up and including the tragic loss of my mom and murder of my twin brother. The whole process, from starting to write to…
Read MoreWhat Percentage of Publisher Compensation Goes to Authors?
Big news! In time for our March royalty payments, I have completed our new royalty calculation tool. It’s all coded in the statistical programming language R, my programming language of choice. And it gives what I believe is unprecedented transparency in royalty calculations. Our authors can now see exactly the amount of compensation we received…
Read MoreAmazing Things Can Happen When Selling Your Books!
In this guest author post, author Jean Huxtable-Hamersky shares her experiences selling her book Parker’s Pumpkin at farmer’s markets and similar fairs. Not everyone likes selling their books face to face, but I enjoy the personal interaction much more than online selling. This comes somewhat from my 35 years as a speech-language pathologist working with…
Read MoreAnnouncing Our New Office Space!
Orange Hat Publishing has new office space for work and meetings! You can find us at 11803 W North Ave, Suite 204, in Wauwatosa, WI! Orange Hat has had many homes over our nearly 14 years in business. One spot that was extra special was our suite in downtown Waukesha in the Thrive Architects building.…
Read MoreUnderstanding Wholesale Discounts
One choice authors need to consider when publishing a book through Orange Hat is the wholesale discount they want to offer resellers (like bookstores). The wholesale discount is the sale price to resellers, the percent off the retail price and thus the profit earned by the store when someone buys the book. For example, offering…
Read MoreFrom the Archives: Call Your Work a Draft to Accept Criticism More Easily
If you call your work a draft, then you come to expect feedback and are more ready to make edits.
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