Whose English is it, anyway? Spelling for an international audience

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Updated 31 May 2014 When publishers distribute a book internationally, they will often change the text to meet regional spelling conventions; thus one will find, for example, that the U.S.-published Harry Potter uses American spelling, while the British and Canadian versions use British spelling. For the self-publisher distributing a single file worldwide, this is not an option. Which spelling, then, should you use? I have heard it argued that authors hoping to appeal to an American audience should only use American spelling because, it is alleged, Americans are less tolerant Read More …

Baby Jane reaches #14 on Kobo

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Cover of the novel "Baby Jane by M. A. Demers." A broken doll lies in a spooky stairwell that appears to lead to another dimension.

I was excited to learn yesterday that my novel, Baby Jane, has reached the #14 spot on Kobo in the category of Mystery & Suspense > Police Procedural. This puts the the novel in good company with authors such as Kathy Reichs (Bones: Buried Deep), Val McDermid (A Darker Domain, The Distant Echo), Micheal Connelly (Angel of Investigation, Suicide Run, The Drop), and James Patterson (Roses are Red). I couldn’t be more excited! Thank you to my readers who helped put me there!

Tips for writing an effective book description

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A well-written book description (also called a synopsis) is an essential marketing tool for your novel. Its purpose is to lure the reader in with just enough of a teaser that they feel compelled to crack open the cover and start reading. An alluring synopsis is the gateway into your book, yet too many authors don’t give their synopsis the respect that it’s due, and as a result they let their novel — and themselves — down. A good fiction synopsis: always starts with attention-grabbing, descriptive words. Avoid beginning with Read More …

Baby Jane finds support in independent bookstores

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Cover of the novel "Baby Jane by M. A. Demers." A broken doll lies in a spooky stairwell that appears to lead to another dimension.

In the excruciating slog through the treacle that has been the implementation of print distribution for my novel, Baby Jane, there has been one bright spot: four independent booksellers around my home near Vancouver have agreed to stock my book. While the likes of Amazon give me access to the huge U.S. market, and (eventually, or so I’m told) to Canadian markets outside of my home turf, having my local bookseller give my book a go is particularly satisfying. It says, more so than anything, “We support you.” And I Read More …

Who decided we’re boring?

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When I first began pitching my novel, Baby Jane, which is set in Vancouver, Canada, to American publishers, the first question always asked was “Are you married to the location?” — the assumption being that Americans won’t read a book set in Canada: everyone thinks we’re boring, that our country is boring, and that’s if they’ve even heard of us. So foreign publishers don’t want stories set in Canada, they won’t publish them, and because they won’t publish them the assumption is never challenged and instead perpetuated. I decided to Read More …

Why I chose to self-publish

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The first thing you learn as a writer is that writing is the easy part; getting published is the long slog. When Amazon embraced ebook technology and opened their format to self-publishers, ebooks exploded into popular culture, taking the publishing world by storm — and many by surprise — with its rapid growth. New writers see in the ebook format a way to bypass the gatekeepers and build their own audience; established publishers see a new revenue stream with minuscule manufacturing costs. But the decision to self-publish shouldn’t be a Read More …