My Name is Neal F. Litherland, and I'm Here to Help

I've been called many things during my professional career. Since I got started in 2008 I've been a writer, an author, a journalist and a freelancer. As of this post I'm officially adding blogger to that list as well. My name is Neal F. Litherland, and I am the Literary Mercenary.

What does that mean? Well, in a nutshell it means that I'm the guy in the editorial trenches. I'm the ghostwriter who gets it done. I'm the pinch-hitter when an anthology needs a closer, or when the regular guy had to duck out because of a family emergency. I put pen to paper for anyone that's willing to pay my price, and like most starving artists I'm willing to work dirt cheap.

This blog serves a two-fold purpose, which I'm hoping my readers will appreciate. On the one hand, I want to provide what insight and advice I can offer so that other writers out there can follow the trail I've blazed and avoid many of the pitfalls I've had to fall into and then climb back out of a time or three before I learned my lesson. I want to provide tips on which publishers are accepting manuscripts, and to review those I've personally worked with so that no author sells his or her baby to a vanity press in a three piece suit. On the other hand I want to add my voice to the ongoing debates that affect us as readers and as writers. I want to weigh in with my own experience, and to share it with those who haven't had the advantage of being on both sides of the editorial desk. Lastly, I want to bitch about some of the things out there that flat out piss me off. And since it's my blog, I think I'll do just that.

The goal at the moment is to manage one entry per week, and to make sure that each entry provides actionable information on something. My latest work will be featured of course (how else am I going to let people know when something is out?), but I'll also be talking up other writers whose work I admire, and if this experiment lasts I may even have a guest post from time to time. So with that my dearest readers have a seat, and take a load off. I have got some serious shit to lay on you.

Also, for those who want the latest updates on my work and on other things I find interesting, Like my Facebook author page at www.Facebook.com/NealFLitherland.