Former teacher and self-published author Ruth Cardello has landed on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 60,000 copies of her self-published romance novels and reportedly turned down a 7-figure book deal from a publishing house.

In an interview with GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera, Cardello (pictured, via) talked about why she said “no” to the book deal offer:

“All sorts of offers came in from places I never dreamt would be interested in my writing. Even though one of the offers was seven figures, I haven’t accepted any of them yet. So far self-publishing is the route that makes the most sense for me to continue on.”

What do you think? Follow this link to read the rest of Cardello’s interview.

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GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera interviewed erotica author Zane for mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? feature today.

In the interview, Zane (pictured, via) tackled a tough question: “What are your thoughts on bookstores shelving books in the African-American section instead of alongside other fiction works?”

Zane replied: “They sell better. That’s been documented. There’s no question about that. When someone goes into a bookstore and they’re looking for African-American books, they’re going to look for the African-American section. If they dig mystery books, they’re going to look at the mystery section. I’ve done my research and seen the figures; I’ve met with the owners and heads of bookstore chains. I used to sit in a Borders bookstore, bring my manuscript submissions with me to read, and for hours on the weekends I’d watch how people selected books, what caught their attention, what made some people look at books more, and what they actually took to the register.”

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GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera interviewed Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab for mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? feature today.

In the interview, Raab (pictured, via) defended her imprint’s standard practice of giving authors a 25% royalty rate for eBooks: “We have an infrastructure to support.” She outlined the values of what traditional publishers have to offer whether they are new in their writing career or established New York Times bestselling authors.

When asked on whether or not she fears big-name writers will take a less traditional publishing route, she replied: “I think about that a lot because I know it’s on authors’ minds. And I think it’s incumbent on every publisher to do a better job than they’ve ever done before — more creative on marketing and eBooks, working in partnership more closely with their authors, keeping them in the loop, publishing more strategically.”

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Chicken Soup for the Soul co-creator Dr. Mark Victor Hansen has seen his popular nonfiction series sell 167 milion copies. The author and entrepreneur had some simple social media advice for writers: “figure it out for yourself.”

In a mediabistro.com interview with GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera, Hansen talked about his new book, U R the Solution and offered tips for aspiring writers.

Here’s an excerpt: “What didn’t work was hiring a lot of the consultants especially about social media, who say they know stuff and for the most part, they do not and they charge a lot. In my experience, all of them are making money selling their experience, but they are not turning it into dollars. I had to figure it out by myself which is probably the best way. Go to the seminars, listen to what they have got to say, and then figure it out for yourself.”

Even the most famous authors once struggled as aspiring writers.

GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera interviewed novelist Nicholas Sparks for mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? feature. The author shared some candid memories about his early days as a struggling writer.

Here’s an excerpt: “at 28-years-old, I had realized I didn’t want to move my family every couple of years. I also knew at the same time that I didn’t want to be a pharmaceutical rep for the rest of my life. So, I had an epiphany. I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to give writing another shot’ and you know, I came up with the story for The Notebook, and I had two small children at that time. I had from 9 a.m. to midnight to work and so I did, three or four days a week. Six months later, I had finished the novel. Three years prior to that, I hadn’t written a thing.”

If 2010 was the year eBooks went mainstream, 2011 will be the year indie eBook authors go mainstream.

According to Smashwords founder Mark Coker, indie eBook authors are becoming more professional and sophisticated, and they’re starting to climb the best-seller charts without the assistance of a publisher. 2011 will be the first year traditional publishers feel the need to compete against the indie ebook alternative. Here are Coker’s predictions for the new year:

1.Ebook sales rise, unit consumption surprises – Ebooks sales will approach 20% of trade book revenues on a monthly basis by the end of 2011 in the US, yet the bigger surprise is that ebooks will account for one third or more of unit consumption. Why? Ebooks cost less and early ebook adopters read more.

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The industry bible, Publisher’s Weekly, released their picks of Notables of 2010 in book publishing this week. Among the names were Barnes & Noble’s Len Riggio, veteran literary agent, Andrew Wylie, Google’s Tom Turvey and others.

One quick glance at the list and readers may notice something is missing. Although certainly notable and arguably deserving of accolades, PW’s list this year negates to mention any women in book publishing and virtually no people of color.

If you could nominate anyone as a 2010 Notable Woman or a Notable Person of Color in book publishing, who would you nominate? Would it be Jane Friedman for her e-publishing venture Open Road Media, perhaps Jamie Raab for Hachette’s notable success with Grand Central, perhaps Alex Simmons for his work with Kids Comic Con, Junot Diaz for being chosen as a prestigious member of the Pulitzer Prize Board or someone else?

Comment below and tell us your thoughts.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this post mentioned Sonny Mehta, a publisher of Indian descent. The reference was removed and the post was modified. This correction was not immediately noted in the post, as is our usual policy when facts are changed within a post.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The headline has been corrected as well to reflect the change.

*Full Disclosure: This GalleyCat blogger is published by Grand Central.

No other author has had as many New York Times bestsellers at one time as James Patterson. People magazine called him the “king of the bestsellers list.” He has outsold writers like Stephen King, John Grisham and Dan Brown.

Yet Patterson has not gone without criticisms. His stable of co-writers, his non-literary style of writing and his dominance of every genre have all been fair game. In this GalleyCat contributor’s interview with Patterson, he responded to those critics. He also discussed the secret to his success and his advice for aspiring authors.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “My success revolves around the fact that I am fairly analytical, logical, have a pretty good IQ but I’ve got street smarts too. You know, a lot of people who have nice IQ’s are just dumb as a brick when it comes to thinking about how other people think and what they might like and how to act in public and things like that. I think I have, you know, gifts involved of those areas. I mean, if I am writing a story that kids are supposed to not want to put down, if I don’t feel it, then I don’t think kids will feel it. If I don’t think that the pages are moving in the story and the characters aren’t involving, then I’m going to assume that the people reading it won’t.”

Forbes named her one of the top 10 bestselling authors of the year. She’s rumored to have signed a $50 million deal with Ballantine Bantam Dell. And in my in-depth interview with her in at mediabistro.com, Janet Evanovich discusses another revealing fact. She is looking for co-authors, three or four of them, in fact.

Just as James Patterson partnered with lesser known co-authors, Evanovich is now looking to do the same. With the success of her last partnership with Charlotte Hughes, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“There are tons of really good writers out there,” Evanovich says, “but for one reason or another, they just have not had the support that allowed them to build audiences.”

In today’s interview, she discusses exactly what type of co-authors she is looking for and how you can go about submitting yourself for review.

GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera published a short interview with author Seth Godin last week. It included a bombshell announcement from Godin: “I’ve decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way.”

The post touched a raw nerve in the publishing community, generating over a thousand retweets and comments around the Internet. Godin himself wrote a longer piece about the issue on his blog. We’ve collected a few of these comments below, but read them all at this link. Share your thoughts as well, we will continue to share the debate.

Novelist Colson Whitehead wrote: “Is he going to publish his books….WITH HIS MIND????”

One anonymous reader wrote: “narrative–fiction–takes longer than a Twitter post and is, despite what everyone who is mesmerized by new technology believes–served by a longer gestation period. Although Kerouac believed the first draft was all, most writers benefit from an editor … It’s mystifying why Mediabistro is so ‘fascinated’ by Godin’s ultimately corrosive affect on culture, on art, on the difficult, and the human.”

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