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S&H Publishing
High Quality Fiction for the Contemporary Woman
Intelligent, curious, imaginative, and willing to learn and explore. Not defined by genre or age, she is practical one moment, dreaming the next, searching for answers on one hand and moving forward with confidence on the other.
S&H Publishing
High Quality Fiction for the Contemporary Woman
Intelligent, curious, imaginative, and willing to learn and explore. Not defined by genre or age, she is practical one moment, dreaming the next, searching for answers on one hand and moving forward with confidence on the other.

Scribe & Hortatory

The Official Blog of S&H Publishing

Strife & Harmony
January 1, 2019
Publishing

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Submissions Now Due for New Anthology: Strife & Harmony

This book was published on 11/6/2019 Stories 2,500 – 8,000 words long are requested for a new anthology. New authors are encouraged, as are manuscripts from writers from across the globe, although the stories must be in English. Send submissions to books@sandhpublishing.com by July 31, 2019. Payment of $20 per story and one copy of the book per author will be made when the book is published. After a long hiatus, S & H Publishing, Inc. has jumped back into publishing with renewed spirit and motivation. We have added quite a few titles you’re sure to love, including a new… [more]
45th-Nail
January 15, 2018
Author Reading

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Author Reading of The 45th Nail

Ian Lahey, who co-authored The 45th Nail with his father, Michael Lahey, lives and writes in Italy. His appreciation of the culture and the traditions of Italy shine through the words in his novel. In this short video he reads the beginning of his novel. The setting is 1987, but the horrors of World War II continue with unexploded mines and unexplored consequences buried deep in the minds of the men and women who lived through it. The destruction is not over when the peace treaty is signed—it continues to touch lives and hearts for generations. [more]
harley-davidson-1241583_640
January 28, 2017
Connections, Publishing, Workshops

Tags: biker, motorcycles, writers

Guess Who’s Writing Books?

We were seated near a group of gray-beards in our local Ihop. Stray words spoken less than two feet from my ear penetrated the pauses in my own conversation. “…replaced the ball on top of the femur…we all rode the same bikes…a really smooth ride…two thousand miles…” Then a phrase did more than float past. “I’m a real grammar nazi.” What? A biker grammar nazi? The phrase resonated with me. Then I heard more. “His publisher…formatting…print on demand…Look at this one—a typical writer workshop…” This was my kind of talk. I reached in my purse and handed my card to… [more]
2016 Best Indie Book (Shelf Unbound, Runner-up)
January 6, 2017
Author interview, Reviews

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Palette of Secrets Runner-Up in 2016 Best Indie Book

Joan Fallon has good reason to be proud of Palette of Secrets. It is an amazingly well-written story of Nancy Miller, an aging artist struggles to forget the secret that haunts her as she writes her memoirs. The problems of aging and the attitudes and reactions of others to the effects of these problems are skillfully woven in and around the plot. The author of The Graham Saga, Anna Belfrage, put it well when she said, ““Ms Fallon is an excellent writer. Her dialogue rings true throughout, her characters grow into tangible beings, and her descriptions bring the various setting… [more]
cyber
November 19, 2016
Workshops

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Make a Writer Happy this Christmas

Short & Helpful Workshops on Sale

What a great gift! Buy a workshop, a set of workshops, or even an entire year of great learning experiences for your favorite writer. This is a one-time opportunity that will not be repeated—at least until next year. You can take 20% off of your order…of anything on the website! These workshops are suitable for writers at all levels. Sets of workshops also come with a free workbook. These twelve workshops are given each month on a rotating basis. You can order a 12-month membership at any time. One workshop is released each month, and the interaction with a knowledgable… [more]
Jan Murin 2013 Creative Commons via Wylio
November 1, 2016
Publishing

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Start with a Dream

Start with a Dream, but be aware of realities.

A book is far more than putting words on the page. Before you begin, you should have a realistic view of what lies ahead. The path to publication must be planned and tailored to the book you envision. Gail Woodard of Dudley Court Press specializes in the long range view. Her half-day Strategy Session meets the challenge of fitting your publishing dreams into an overall career or life plan, whether you write fiction or nonfiction, for personal or commercial purposes. Email: gailw@dudleycourtpress.com for details. Why would one publisher give links to another publisher? Because we’re all in this together. We… [more]
9781633200050-Perfect copy SMALL
October 19, 2016
Author interview

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Interview with Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Madame Dorion: Her Journey to the Oregon Country—historically accurate with fun-filled fiction. The fact that the fiction is clearly identifiable was one of the things that attracted me to this book when I first read it. The book is written in the form of a journaling the delineation between fact and fiction is shown by the form of the dates at the top of each entry. It does not intrude on the flow of the story, and the reader need not ever referred to it. The historical facts were, in part, gleaned from reading the actual journals of several of… [more]
Logo Short Help copy
September 3, 2016
Reviews

Tags: seminars, short & helpful, workshops, writing

Reviews From a Sneak Peek

Short & Helpful Online Writer Workshops

We showed a sneak peek of the first workshop to a writers group with awesome results. Even after seeing the video, more than half of the attendees signed up! We were asking for a few comments, but we were pleasantly surprised that these people, who had been writing for years, signed up for the program. Without exception, they were impressed with the quality of the material presented. They wanted to view the video again and take their time, and the anticipation of interaction with the presenter was a powerful draw. Jo M. of Houston said, “After viewing just one Short… [more]
No News is Bad News
July 16, 2016
Author interview

Tags: mystery

Interview with Maureen Milliken

Author of No News is Bad News

Maureen writes about what she knows and what she loves: newspapers and Maine. As a third generation newspaper editor, she portrays her protagonist, Bernie O’Dea, with a realism that can’t be matched. She also paints Maine with a strong and loving brush. The reader can almost smell the decaying leaves on the ground and feel the sweltering humidity of the Maine summer. With masterful use of flashbacks and step backs, Milliken braids three time lines into a single strong story that grabs the reader’s attention and doesn’t let it go. Bernie as owner of the local weekly newspaper, and Pete… [more]
Many pictures
July 11, 2015
Book Trailers

Tags: book publicity, book video, trailer

The Storyboard

The Anatomy of a Book Trailer - Part 2

Where do we find the building blocks for a trailer? Think about your goal. Think about your message. Think about your intended audience. The limits are set by your imagination. Use individual artistic talent. Among the most notable examples of this are the trailers of Maggie Stiefvater. This is one such trailer, the result of hours and hours of painstaking work and stop action photography. Make your own video using family and friends as characters. The trailer for “The Uncertainty Principle” by Maria Elizabeth McVoy in the S&H anthology, Short & Happy (or not) is a fantastic example. Use an online… [more]
Not THAT kind of trailer?
May 30, 2015
Book Trailers

Tags: book publicity, discoverability, trailer

Not THAT Kind of Trailer

The Anatomy of a Book Trailer - Part 1

Before the advent of the ebook, a book trailer might have been the only way to take enough books along on your summer vacation. However, we now have all manner of portable devices that can not only put dozens of books inside your pocket, but can give you animated versions of the book blurb. YouTube has been named the world’s second largest search engine. Authors and publishers are always looking for ways to get their books noticed, and the book trailer is just one more way to generate interest. Think of a trailer as an online book jacket. A trailer has… [more]
magnifier
May 4, 2015
Publishing

Tags: finding a publisher, researching a publisher, small presses, small publishing houses

Where to Look for Answers

Before you commit your novel to a publisher, do your homework. Make sure you are a good fit. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all. How do you do this? Where do you look for answers? The first stop is to look at the website. If you like it, write down some of the titles they publish. Go to Amazon and look at the books. Use the Search Inside feature and read some of the book. Is this a book you would be happy to have sitting next to yours? Look at the cover, the formatting, and particularly at the writing. The… [more]
Stephen Pierzchala, Flickr via Wylio
April 7, 2015
Publishing

Tags: deceptive publishers, finding a publisher, imprints, vanity publishers, what is a bad publisher

The Ugly

Small Publishers - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Part 3)

The Ugly Publisher not only treats authors badly, but does so with malice aforethought. The Granddaddy of ugly publishers is Author Solutions. Our August post Beware the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, made it clear that discovering the underlying publisher is not always easy. Author Solutions has a gazillion imprints, and many of them are associated with otherwise legitimate publishers. Dr Judith Briles, in her excellent blog The Book Shepherd, says the following: “Author Solutions has gotten into bed with Hay House (Balboa Press), Thomas Nelson (Westbow Press), Simon & Schuster (Archway Publishing packages start at $1599 and can go up… [more]
© 2009 Travis Balinas, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio
January 27, 2015
Publishing

Tags: finding a publisher, small publishers, small publishing houses, vanity publishers, what is a bad publisher

The Bad

Small Publishers - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Part 2)

It is the beginning of a new year and time to take another look at small publishers. This month we will discuss the BAD and leave the Ugly for the shortest month. Don’t want to look at them too long. Bad is a Relative Term What is meant by a “bad” small publisher? Probably every person who reads this blog will be able to give a definition of a “bad” publisher, and there are good odds that no two of those definitions will be the same. To our mind, a bad publisher is one who treats the author badly. What does this mean?… [more]
© 2005 Erica Cherup, Flickr | CC-BY-ND | via Wylio
December 13, 2014
Publishing

Tags: publisher as partner, small presses, small publishers, small publishing houses

The Good

Small Publishers - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Part 1)

This is the time of year for happiness and good cheer, so today will only cover THE GOOD, leaving THE BAD and THE UGLY for another day. A Good Small Publisher is the Author’s Partner A good partnership is one in which both partners collaborate to produce a quality product. In publishing, as in any other business, both partners need to contribute. Contributing does not always mean contributing money! The author has already contributed a great deal of time and work to produce a quality manuscript. The best of the small publishers consider themselves to be the venture capitalist of the partnership…. [more]
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