Castle Gate Press has published using a traditional model from 2013-2018. One of our books is an Amazon genre bestseller, and another won a Selah Award for Christian fiction in the speculative category. Yet another was a finalist for Selah, and another a finalist for the Grace Award. In short, we provide award-winning editing. We […]
Setting the scene, three tips for writers
Writers, do you have a high-action starting scene that just isn’t drawing the reader in? What can you do about that? You need to set your scene to draw readers into the POV of the main character and give us an emotional connection to him. Without that, it’s hard to care about what’s going on. […]
Our approach to editing your book
Castle Gate Press is unusual in several ways. One of them is in our team editing approach. The contests where we’ve been entering our books often ask who the editor of the book is, leaving space for the name of one editor. This is apparently the common way for the big publishers to do it, with […]
Get some mentoring from us at Realm Makers Conference
This summer at the Realm Makers Conference, we’re offering free mentoring to anyone who signs up. We’re happy to share some of the Castle Gate Press special handling we give our authors. This TLC has so far resulted in: last year one Amazon category bestseller, and for this year a book that is both a finalist […]
The Answer Place: Should I, an author, focus on selling print books or ebooks?
The answer to this depends on whether you have managed to land one of the big five traditional publishers. If you are working with one of these, they have the keys to possibly making money on print books. Nobody else does. Not you, not your small press publisher. The reason is that you will have […]
The Answer Place: What can an author do better than a small press can?
Here are four things that you, as an indie author, could do better than a small press could do for you. Schedule and manage e-book price specials. For a publisher with a number of books, it’s hard to do well. For you, with just your own books, you’ll have the incentive to keep right on top […]
An indie author wants marketing help
Today I got an email from an indie author wanting help with marketing. Here’s what I told him: I can give you some basic advice, and you can find more if you look on our blog under marketing tips. There’s a formula that many indie authors are using to make tons of money on ebooks, […]
Trad pub, small press, or indie publishing: which is right for you?
Fiction writers, should you aim for traditional publication, small press, or indie publishing? It’s a tough decision in a situation where publishers aren’t doing very well. You can tell that because they consolidate, sell out, buy each other up, and generally act unstable. There isn’t much money to be had in publishing these days, except […]
Four tips for using hashtags for writers
Authors, in your social media efforts, it would be a great idea to incorporate relevant hashtags. Not too many, of course–that confuses your reader. Just one or two, carefully chosen. So, what is a hashtag? It’s a search keyword preceded by a pound sign. Not just any word or bunch of words shoved together. Words […]
Writers, how to find your audience
Writers, perhaps you’re wondering how you will find your audience, once your book is available. Here’s a suggestion: One reader at a time. I’m assuming the book has been edited by professionals before it’s published, and there’s no doubt that it’s worth bragging about. Before publication time, get review copies into the hands of plenty […]