December - 2018

Common Deer Press

Dec 31, 2018

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, readers! 2018 was an exciting year for us at CDP. We published six books, added new members to our team, redesigned out website, and connected with you on the blog, on social, and through our newsletter! And it looks like the excitement will continue this year! We've got plenty of big things lined up. We're publishing middle grade novels, our very first picture book, and some exciting adult fiction! Our spring list: The Extraordinary eTab of Julian Newcomber T

Around the Web: Top Stories and Words of 2018, Famous Author Drafts, and Novel Writing Advice

Emily Stewart

Dec 28, 2018

Around the Web: Top Stories and Words of 2018, Famous Author Drafts, and Novel Writing Advice

Happy Friday and a pre-emptive happy New Year to you all! Since this is the last Around the Web post of the year, I’ve got a few 2018 wrap up lists for you to check out and some writing inspiration and advice to get your 2019 started right. Read on and then share your 2019 reading and writing goals with us! Lit Hubs Best Stories of the Year The end of the year means tons of best of lists and Lit Hub has a great one; it’s their countdown of the top 50 stories of the year. Star

Common Deer Press

Dec 24, 2018

Happy Holidays

The Common Dear Press team wishes you all a very happy holiday season! Our offices are closed until January 7, 2019. Until then, we wish you all rest, relaxation, and good reading. See you in the new year!

Around the Web: Sylvia Plath's Letters, Shakespeare's Food, Jane Austen and Christmas, and T

Emily Stewart

Dec 21, 2018

Around the Web: Sylvia Plath's Letters, Shakespeare's Food, Jane Austen and Christmas, and T

Happy Friday, readers! The CDP team will be on holiday next week, so we’re hard at work making sure we’ve got everything in order before we go. We hope you’re all getting some down time in during this busy time of the year as well. Hopefully, that down time will include reading. (I know I plan to tackle a few titles on my TBR list.) Here’s a few things to get you started. Sylvia Plath’s Letters Sylvia Plath’s death is one of the most famous suicides in the literary world. A c

Ask the Publisher: How To Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal⎯Part III

Kirsten Marion

Dec 17, 2018

Ask the Publisher: How To Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal⎯Part III

Welcome back! This post highlights the must-haves in your proposal’s marketing plan, competitive titles, chapter outline, and sample chapters. Marketing Plan In this section you outline what you can do (irrespective of what the publisher is doing) to promote and sell the book. Only list what you know you absolutely can do within your current resources of both time and money. You need to be confident, realistic, and direct about everything that’s going to happen and include co

Around the Web: Adaptations, Crime Reporting, Lit Hoaxes, and More

Emily Stewart

Dec 14, 2018

Around the Web: Adaptations, Crime Reporting, Lit Hoaxes, and More

Hello, friends! And welcome to another Around the Web, your weekly round-up of book and writing related stories from across the world wide web. Check out what caught our attention this week and then be sure to share your favourite blogs and articles in the comments. Coming Soon to Screens Near You Kirkus announced some upcoming film and television adaptations of books that may excite you. Or worry you, if you’re not a fan. I’m tentatively excited for Le Guin’s works to hit th

Ask the Publisher: How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal⎯Part II

Kirsten Marion

Dec 10, 2018

Ask the Publisher: How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal⎯Part II

Happy Monday, everyone and welcome back to Ask the Publisher! Last week, in Part I of this series, we talked about what a nonfiction book proposal was, why you might need one, and book proposal ‘must-haves’. Today’s post looks at the sections you need to cover in your proposal. In order, they are: The Overview The Target Audience About the author Your Marketing Plan Competitive Titles Chapter Outline Sample Chapters There is a lot to cover and you don’t have all day to read b

Around the Web: Killer Women, Writer Income, a Grammar Jedi, and a Quiz

Emily Stewart

Dec 7, 2018

Around the Web: Killer Women, Writer Income, a Grammar Jedi, and a Quiz

Happy Friday, folks! I’m writing to you from the warmth of my office while watching the snow fall outside. Sure, it looks lovely out there, but it really just makes me want to stay inside (maybe until, like, April) with some hot chocolate and some good reading. Luckily, there’s lots to read! Of course, we just launched three books, so we’d love it if you picked up Lackbeard, Math Kids, or Dear Earthling. But if you want something a bit shorter, here are some options from arou

The Great & the Small Earns Honourable Mention in Royal Dragonfly Awards

Common Deer Press

Dec 5, 2018

The Great & the Small Earns Honourable Mention in Royal Dragonfly Awards

The 2018 Royal Dragonfly Awards have been announced and once more we have reason to congratulate A.T. Balsara: The Great & the Small has received an honourable mention in the young adult fiction category! The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards honours excellence in all types of literature and book marketing. They recognize creativity and hard work for a comprehensive list of genres. Check out the full list of winners!

Ask the Publisher: How to Write A Nonfiction Book Proposal

Kirsten Marion

Dec 3, 2018

Ask the Publisher: How to Write A Nonfiction Book Proposal

Common Deer Press doesn’t publish nonfiction…yet. But I get enough questions about it that it has sparked another blog series. Let’s start with some basics. The nonfiction book market continues to be robust and sales in fiction are declining. Adult nonfiction provides 67% of the sales in adult books while juvenile nonfiction contributes a more modest 25% of total sales of juvenile books. Both are providing the growth in books sold (1). The overall growth in nonfiction adult b