Lindsey Alexander Editorial

02/08/2018

Today marks one whole year of the Reading List, and we'd just like to say thank you to our terrific team, and to the authors, publishers, and businesses who make doing what we do a joy. It's no small thing to be invited into a process that can, for some people, be very private, and it's always, of course, personal. So thank you for trusting us as your editors, whether we're your first reader or your fiftieth.

In that spirit, we're sharing a few first drafts of our logo, designed by Krishna Fitzpatrick for the Reading List launch last year. It was hard to say good-bye to some of these, but we got to what felt right with the same kind of careful listening and expertise from our designer that we hope to always offer our authors.

To celebrate our first anniversary, we'd like to invite you to take advantage of a 10% discount on all projects booked between now and February 28. Just drop us a line and let us know you saw this post. There's also a query critique giveaway over on Instagram. Follow for details.

Yours in books,
Lindsey

06/28/2017

Congrats to Cheryl Robinson on the publication of the first book in her new Until Ray Trilogy. Right now, you can download the eBook for free, and you should, because this is a terrific summer read.

Ray lives in northwest Detroit in a four-family flat with his mother. When he’s not at home, Ray’s either at the mall selling women’s shoes or in the club. In both places, he's focused on one thing—picking up women. Dissatisfied, dysfunctional, and leagues behind his peers, Ray's ready for a change but isn’t sure how to make it happen.
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Then she arrives...
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At twenty-four, Sarita has an MBA, is a CPA, and works in upper-level management at GM. But all that success comes at a cost: she’s lonely and craves the one thing she’s never had—attention from men. Until now. Dr. Graham Emerson wants to marry Sarita, and her parents expect her to, but Sarita isn’t convinced he’s the one for her. On a blind date, she meets Ray Saint and is immediately drawn in by his good looks and sense of humor. But his reputation for being a ladies’ man raises several red flags. Ray swears he’s changed. Is giving up a sure thing for a maybe worth the risk?
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Set in the mid-eighties, Until Ray explores life and love through the lenses of colorism, classism, and family dysfunction.

Available free at Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Sony, or directly from my website: https://www.untilraytrilogy.com/free-e-book-untilray

05/31/2017

As some of you know, for the past few months I've been building a new editorial company, The Reading List, with an aim to serve authors and publishers better than ever before. Don't worry, I'm still editing, but I'm also working with a terrific team you're going to love.

From here on out, I'll still post on this page from time to time, but you'd be wise to follow the Reading List for more frequent updates. We're also very active on Instagram (), and for the month of June, we're hosting a writing challenge. One participant will win a full critique, so come on over to Instagram and join in.

Are you on Instagram? We are! Join our writing challenge for a chance to win a detailed critique from former HarperCollins editor and Reading List editorial director Lindsey Alexander. Head over to Instagram and follow us for details.

05/23/2017

The Truthful Story snagged not one but two more awards this week. Congrats, Helen Stine!

Celebrating the 9th Annual International Book Awards, sponsored by American Book Fest!

05/09/2017

Authors, be advised: Changes are afoot (again) at Amazon.

Industry members claim the program, which allows third-party re-sellers to win the main buy button on book pages, has the potential to decimate authors' and publishers' earnings, especially on backlist books.

04/20/2017

"At a time when people are siloed into narrow sources of information according to their particular tinted worldview — those they follow on Twitter, the evening shoutfest they choose, AM talk radio or NPR — it’s no surprise most of us also read books we’re inclined to favor. Reading is a pleasure and a time-consuming one. Why bother reading something you dislike?

But reading what you hate helps you refine what it is you value, whether it’s a style, a story line or an argument."

Defensiveness makes you a better, more skeptical reader — a critic.

04/13/2017

Helen Stine's THE TRUTHFUL STORY has won yet another award! This time it's a gold IPPY for Best Regional Fiction. Congrats, Helen!

Here are the results of the 2017 Independent Publisher Regional and Ebook Awards, presented to the year's best titles published in these important and growing divisions of independent publishing.Listed below are the Regional fiction and non-fiction medalists and the Ebook fiction and non-fiction med...

04/06/2017

Wishing a huge congrats to Helen Stine, whose novel, THE TRUTHFUL STORY, just made the Southern Booksellers Alliance's Long List, where she's in great company with Ann Patchett, John Grisham, and others. Go, Helen!

he Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, (SIBA), is pleased to announce the 2017 Southern Book Prize Long List, featuring all the eligible titles that have been nominated for the Southern Book Prize (formerly the SIBA Book Award). Nominated titles must be Southern in nature or by a Southern aut...

04/05/2017

Wishing a very happy book birthday to Chandi Wyant's spell-binding memoir, RETURN TO GLOW. Says one reviewer: "Return to Glow’ is a wake up call. Chandi jumped into the river of life – following the voice of her heart against all reason, rationale and practical concerns. She brings us along on her journey: from the collapse of her world and heath to the reawakening of her spirit …re-finding her ‘glow’. Her story, interspersed with wonderful historical tidbits, is woven through the beautiful hills of Tuscany and Umbria in the spring. Chandi imparts a visceral 3D experience of the extraordinary beauty of Italy – the landscape, the medieval towns, the monasteries, the food(!), and of moving from a state of being shattered to reconnecting with source and becoming whole.

This rich and beautiful book is for anyone needing a reminder of the magic of life: of what is possible, of how beautiful and full of gratitude life can be; for anyone needing a booster shot of la belle Italia, and most important, for those who needs a gentle push to JUMP when the heart calls."

After a divorce and traumatic illness, Chandi Wyant set out on Italy’s historic pilgrimage route, to walk for forty days to Rome. With a boundless passion for Italy, she brings alive the history of the route while leading the reader on her inner journey as she finds sustenance and comfort ...

03/27/2017

Thinking of publishing with IngramSpark? From now through April 30, save on setup fees with the code INDIEFRINGE17.

03/14/2017

Write creative nonfiction? Need some space and support to complete your first big project? Apply to The Oxford American magazine's Jeff Baskin Writers Fellowship. (Deadline March 30)

Guidelines for submitting to The Oxford American Jeff Baskin Fellowship.

01/17/2017

"Writers love to worry. We — it’s okay to admit it — are rather melodramatic. Worrying has never finished a paragraph or fixed a slow opening. You can worry away your writing life, or you can catch yourself the next time you start to worry, go for a walk, and replace those worries with work."

Worrying has never finished a paragraph or fixed a slow opening. You can worry away your writing life, or you can replace those worries with work.