25 steps to being a traditionally published author: Lazy bastard edition
(An oldy, but a goody.)
This is like that Couch to 5k thing people do to gear up for a marathon. Except you can do it without leaving your couch. And for me, a book is a better souvenir than a popped-off toenail.
Fix Your Reader’s Pet Peeves: Stereotypes and Characters
Several weeks ago I asked everyone to share their reading pet peeves, and you did (thanks, guys!). It was interesting to see how many similar annoyances cropped up, as well as some I’d never have considered.
Telling the Whole Story: Fiction and the Problem of Underwriting
Modern writers have been heavily influenced by the movies. On the one hand this is good—the best of visual media will teach us pacing, plotting, great dialog, and hopefully the mechanics of a good setting.
4 Ways to Write a Likable Protagonist at the Start of His Character Arc
Do you know what I struggle with more anything when it comes to character arcs? Creating a likable protagonist right from the get-go.
Business of writing
Why Facebook Cannot Help You Sell Books
As an author, book marketer and social media specialist, I cannot think of a single more wasteful thing an author can do for book sales than to market on Facebook. Put simply, there is no evidence that Facebook can sell books, unless you’re a celebrity with a mass following. There is, however, plenty of evidence that Facebook is both a waste of time and money if you’re an unknown or midlist author.
Are Facebook Pages Hard? You Bet! 13 Tips to Help You Attract and Keep Facebook Fans
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while or listening to my podcast, you’ve heard me say that Facebook is hard. It’s not hard to set up a profile and chat with your friends. It is difficult once you build yourself a Facebook author page to grow a base of dedicated readers.
Instead of reading the paper on the weekends, I sit down and read through a large number of writing blogs. Then, I collect a list of the best posts on fiction writing, so I can share them with other writers. If you want to see my picks of the best articles each week, just subscribe below. You’ll get an email each weekend with a list of the fiction writing articles I found most interesting or useful.