Marketing is a challenge for authors. We are, at heart, writers and artists, and most of us bristle at the notion of having to talk to people. Introverts unite... separately... at home. However, as per my previous blog, we aren't able to ignore it and be successful. This, however, doesn't mean that all marketing is...Read More

Characterization is telling the reader about characters (or even places). It's the meat and potatoes of the "getting to know you" part of the story, and it can be extremely powerful.Read More

Ultimately, just remember that editors are working hard. There's usually sticker shock involved with our quotes, but a good editor works extremely hard for their clients and are doing far more than spell check.Read More

The dreaded, the terrible, the unthinkable second act. Oh, how writers of all kinds everywhere loathe it. It's the place your pacing, story, and steam tends to wither, and you're left staring down the barrel of "well now what?" There is, however good news.Read More

Whether you're writing from first person or third person, you shouldn't write about things your POV character doesn't know. For example, if she doesn't know the person across from her plans to kill her, you shouldn't tell the reader that.Read More

Being passionate people, writers are impatient. We want the manuscript written. We want the editing done. We want the book on shelves around the world. We want the movie made. We want, we want, we want! And all this wanting is a good thing. It’s important, and it’s healthy. I’m not going to say otherwise,...Read More

We’ve all felt it. That dreaded, slow, sticky sensation when our inspiration and excitement for a project drains away like the tide, leaving us beached on the unforgiving shores of reality. Yeah, I know, I’m waxing poetic, but we all really do know that feeling. As Jack London infamously said, “You can’t wait for inspiration....Read More

The best way you can learn about writing and about publishing is accepting that you don’t know everything. There are a lot of moving pieces to the publishing industry. One of the first things we learn when we enter this world is we can’t go it alone, and we don’t know everything.Read More

We hear this word thrown around a lot, but many people seem to miss the mark on what it means. While the literal definition of a professional is just someone who gets paid, being “professional” encompasses more than that. In that case, let’s dig into what the publishing world considers to be a professional: Dressing...Read More

Continuing yesterday’s discussion of what the real differences between self-publishing and traditional publishing are, let’s step into the nitty-gritty and lay out the pros and cons (I was tempted to write “prose and cons”) so we can compare the two side by side. Now that we have looked at the steps required in putting together...Read More