Blog

Category: Book marketing

Arlene Prunkl with Dan Poynter

My tribute to self-publishing pioneer Dan Poynter

November 4, 2015

The world of self-publishing was touched and deeply saddened by news earlier this week of the passing legendary self-publishing pioneer Dan Poynter. Dan passed away on Monday, November 2, 2015, at the age of seventy-seven. Although I posted on Facebook about this great loss to the worldwide self-publishing community, I thought I owed Dan’s passing a more detailed mention on my blog. Dan was my friend, my mentor, my client, and above all, my inspiration, especially throughout the early years of my editing career.

Read More »
A word cloud with words like "Lies" and "Inaccurate"

Truth and lies in fiction—how to write an unreliable narrator

July 24, 2014

I’m excited about this blog post. While most of my articles are on common topics that you can find information about all around the Internet, the subject of unreliable narrators doesn’t get a lot of ink. And that’s probably because relatively few fiction writers know about the literary device of unreliable narration, and if they do, they haven’t any notion of how to create it or use it to best effect. In this post, I’ll get you started with techniques for successfully writing an unreliable narrator.

Read More »
A stack of books with money floating in the air

The advantages of traditional publishing over self-publishing

April 10, 2014

Last month, I posted a lengthy article on the advantages of self-publishing (also called indie publishing). It was easy to write; the ideas came almost faster than I could get them down. That post garnered some controversy—not surprising—and a request for a follow-up article. So, in the interest of fairness and objectivity, I promised to provide some balance with a look at the advantages of publishing through the traditional route—that of finding a publishing house to publish your book. But as I suspected, that task hasn’t been nearly as easy as the post on self-publishing advantages.

Read More »
A newspaper with the headline "Self-publishing advantages"

16 advantages of self-publishing over traditional publishing

March 13, 2014

The biggest decision an author faces after completing his or her manuscript is whether to self-publish or to seek an agent and hopefully find a publisher. Many authors who know me know that I often encourage the self-publishing route. But to set the record straight, I want to say that I’m not partial to either self-publishing or traditional publishing. Neither is superior; in fact, it’s wonderful that authors have both options these days. It all comes down to the individual author’s personality and what they hope to achieve with the publication of their book. There are so many variables to consider that it’s essential to educate yourself in the pros and cons of both self- and traditional publishing.

Read More »
The cover of the book Resurrecting Randi

Book marketing tips from one of my successful authors

July 15, 2008

With delight, I’ve been following the publishing success of my author, David Shepherd, whose novel, Resurrecting Randi, has achieved steady sales since it was published early in 2008 by Balios Publishing Co. Recently, I asked David what he thought were the most important elements of his marketing strategy. Here’s his detailed e-mailed reply:

Read More »

Recent Blog Posts

Blog Categories

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe

Arlene Prunkl
#36–3535 McCulloch Road
Kelowna, BC, Canada  V1W 4R8
[email protected]

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in
© Arlene E. Prunkl 2004–2025.
Text "Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence Finalist, Brain School by Howard Eaton" with a red ribbon and the book cover