Know Your Goals: Artist-Author or Professional-Author?
Too often in the discussions about “how to be successful,” the emphasis is on income alone. For many, that measure works. But that’s not the only option.
Pin ItWhere Normal Need Not Apply
Too often in the discussions about “how to be successful,” the emphasis is on income alone. For many, that measure works. But that’s not the only option.
Pin ItThe publishing world has been abuzz with the results of the 2014 Digital Book World (DBW) and Writer’s Digest Author Survey. Headlines scream “Most authors make less than $1000 a year.” Numbers taken out of context claim that 80% of the 9000+ respondents earn $1000 or less. Eh. Yes and […]
Pin ItThe other week, my friend Janice Hardy emailed me for insight into a question one of her blog readers had about writing contests. She wanted to turn the question into a blog post on the pros and cons of writing contests and thought I might have something to say about the […]
Pin ItIn the comments of my post about the number one writing rule, we shared some of the bad advice we’ve heard. Many of the examples didn’t point out advice that’s inherently bad, but rather advice that doesn’t apply equally to all situations. Carradee shared the example of a writer who […]
Pin ItLast week we discussed the messages and meanings hidden within genre stories. Sometimes we, as writers, might not be aware of all the impressions readers take away from our writing. The messages readers get from our writing aren’t always explicitly stated. That is, a story’s meaning and hidden messages lurk in […]
Pin ItTa da! I made it to the three year mark for blogging. Appropriately, we had enough comments on the Blogiversary Contest post to earn three winners! Yay! Or boo… Depending on if you’re one of the winners or not. *sad face* I wish everyone could be a winner. Seriously. But random.org […]
Pin ItI’ve written several posts about how we have to figure out our goals. Do we want to be famous? How can we prioritize fast, cheap, and good? How important are bookstores to us? I touch on the subject a lot because we can’t figure out the right publishing path for us until […]
Pin ItI do a lot of beta reading for friends, and sometimes they come to me with a question along the lines of: “I’ve really struggled with x aspect of this story, and I’m wondering if I should just abandon it. Can you take a look and see if this story can […]
Pin ItA couple of weeks ago, someone (I won’t name who because I don’t want to embarrass her) asked me what score I’d received in a writing contest. I didn’t want to answer at first. I worried about making her feel bad or seeming like I was bragging. Yet I could […]
Pin ItAll writers, especially those who self-publish, have to decide: Are we writing and publishing just for ourselves? Or are we writing and publishing to get customers (readers)? If we’re doing it for ourselves, things like editing and those nice covers we talked about last time don’t matter. Those who write […]
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