Dreaming is an important part of your writing (both creatively and in business), and we support your biggest, loftiest dreams with everything we have. But can you sort through your dreams for reality? Are you in control of your writing business? Do you know how take a dream and make it real? Or do you get lost in the imagining, planning, and wishing that comes … Read More Having a Hard Time Organizing Your Writing Time?
+ Author Life, Author Toolbox, Editing, Marketing, Pep Talk, Productivity, Self, Support, Work With us
If we want a long-lasting career writing fiction, we have to step back from what we’re doing once in a while and re-evaluate. Both in what we’re writing and how we’re approaching our author platform, branding, and social media. In the years from 2009 to 2017, I wrote an average of five to nine books a year. I was publishing at a frantic pace, … Read More A Note for Mid-Career Authors
+ Author Life, Author Toolbox, Marketing, Pep Talk, Productivity, Sales, Self, Support, Work With us
Are you feeling stuck in one or more aspects of your author career? Has the business side of the writing life got you down? A Publishing Consultation Call can help you get focused, and get moving again. Here are 7 reasons why some one on one time might be exactly what you need to get back on track. 1. You’re sometimes paralyzed about which … Read More 7 Reasons You May Need a Publishing Consultation Call
+ Author Life, Author Toolbox, diversity, Editing, featured, LGBT, Marketing, representation in literature, Self, Story, Support
by Jesse Perry
2021 has seen more books featuring LGBT characters hit the bestselling lists than any year prior. These books have come in all genres: memoirs, YA novels, erotica, thrillers, you name it. With this explosion in LGBT-centered stories, many authors have a desire to include an LGBT character in their stories, whether as a main character or a side character. However, this can sometimes be … Read More Introduction to Writing LGBT+ Characters
The 5 Point Story Mapping Method isn’t a plotting device. It’s not a new series of beats or a reworking of classic plot tools. The Waypoint Method aims to get deep under the skin of your story so that you understand more than just what happens to your characters. It’s about setting yourself up to succeed, understanding your own motivations as well as your … Read More DIY Workbook: 5 Point Story Mapping
There’s an ages old debate that happens in writing advice circles between whether you should write what you want or write what readers want. Writing to market is bad, says one group. You should follow your inpiration and write what moves your soul. Writing to market is good, says the other. You’re going to die broke and alone if you don’t give the readers … Read More Listen to your inspiration or listen to the market? The Answer: Both
It doesn’t matter if you are just starting your writing journey, you’ve finished one book, or your backlist is filled with titles. It doesn’t matter if you’re Independent or Traditional. Every single person we’ve worked with, or met in the writing world, has one thing in common: Occasionally, we all get stuck. We’re sometimes overwhelmed by the process, or afraid of the criticism/rejection, or … Read More DIY Workbook: Three Author Foundations
+ Author Life, Self, Writing
Starting with SELF is appropriate because it’s often the thing authors abandon first. We spend so much time trying to contort ourselves for agents, editors, and readers we completely forget that we’re a very important piece of our stories. If you haven’t read the Series Kickoff outlining the 4S’s, do that here. The self has two sections: your physical self and your higher self. … Read More 4S Author: Self
There are a lot of paths to publishing your novels, and it can become quite overwhelming to decide which one is right for you. But under all the tech and strategies and marketing your success will hinge on only 4 core thing. Over the coming weeks I’ll dive into each one a bit further. Note: This series was adapted from a summer series available … Read More The 4S Author Career
How do you prepare to write a new book? Many authors have a system they follow to plan, plot, and prepare before they sit down to write–myself included. While there are no real rules for how to write a book, I find that I prefer to have a loosely structured system that works for my storytelling style. I’ve written a little over 30 novels–maybe … Read More 6 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Story Before You Sit Down to Write
by Haley Walden
Rejection is a normal part of life, but as humans, we tend to avoid it at all costs. If you’ve chosen to be an author, though, rejection is part of the journey. (Might as well rip off the band-aid first, right?) Our instincts tell us that our very existence is threatened if we’re rejected, so we tend to spend a lot of time and … Read More Pep Talk: Put a Positive Spin on Rejection
by Haley Walden
Once you embark on building your author life, you’ll find that self-sabotage is an insidious beast. It disguises itself as a number of different, seemingly innocuous feelings and scenarios that ultimately block your creativity. So what do you do about it? Obviously, we all want to nip self-sabotage in the bud. Anything that gets between you and your books needs to hit the road–right? … Read More 8 Ways Self-Sabotage Disguises Itself to Block Your Creativity
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