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Author Chuck Greaves is the guest in Session #5 of The Author Biz.

Chuck Greaves

Chuck is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Jack MacTaggart mystery series. The third book in the series, THE LAST HEIR, was released on June 24th.

Chuck, who spent 25 years as an attorney in California, brings a unique perspective to The Author Biz. He not only writes a mystery series, published by a Big Five publisher, he also writes literary fiction, for a highly regarded publisher based in the United Kingdom.

In this interview, we discuss Chuck’s latest book, but we also delve into some of the differences between his two publishers.

Chuck shares several interesting stories and offers examples and advice for dealing with and understanding publishing contracts in this value-packed session. I’ve noted some key points for people looking for information on specific topics. (The number in parentheses is the time in the interview where the specific discussion begins.)

Interview Notes

Interview with Chuck begins with a discussion of THE LAST HEIR (9:00)

Using a writing contest to launch his career (17:11)

A single agent dealing with both publishers (19:50)

A different agent for motion picture and television rights (22:40)

Chuck was in the fortunate position of being able to choose between two different agents to represent his work, and he turned to a friend in the business for some advice on how to choose (27:25)

Chuck describes the publishing contract negotiation process, the one-page deal memo, and explains how having the right agency representing you can help with those negotiations (31:56)

What were the differences between the two publishing contracts? (37:33)

What were the differences between the two publishers in how they dealt with Chuck and his books? (43:08)

How significant are libraries now with regard to the sale of hardcover books? (49:03)

What benefit to you get as an author from book signings and events? (54:37)

What advice would you give authors going to their first ever book signing or author appearance? (57:30)

Links for Chuck Greaves and things mentioned during the interview.

Chuck Greaves Website

Chuck Greaves Amazon Page

C. Joseph Greaves Amazon Page

Collected Works Bookstore

Macmillian Minotaur Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Links from News for Authors:

TheBookSeller.com article on Authors Unlimited

Michael Sullivan article on Kindle Unlimited making some authors second-class citizens

Kindle Unlimited Books hit 45% of the Kindle top 100

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