I often hear people quote (or misquote) famous author’s writing advice. “Editing means minus ten percent.” “Writing is like driving in the dark. You can only see to the edges of the lights.” “Make a word count goal and stick to it every day.” And on and on. If writing is a creative process, why…
Category Archives: Writer Wednesday
Writer Wednesday : Why Author brand is important.
“In the publishing space, the author’s brand is infinitely more important than the publisher’s brand. I’m going to read Charles Stross novels no matter who publishes them (and in fact Stross has a bibliography that spans multiple publishers). But the author’s brand is usually associated with story content. I buy Charles Stross novels because I like…
Writer Wednesday : Where do you write?
“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. ” –Virginia Woolf Something about this quote bounces around in my brain. Maybe it’s the money thing. I don’t have loads of money, yet I’m able to write. Maybe it’s the room of her own thing. I’ve never really…
Writer Wednesday : Why I write serial fiction (and why you should too)
My friend Ian T Healy asked me to write a piece about serial fiction for his blog. I wanted to share it with you here. >>> What is serial fiction? Let’s start with the basics. Serial fiction is literally the act of publishing fiction while it’s being written. For example, Denver Cereal chapters are often…
Writer Wednesday : Get busy.
If you’re a writer, find the time (about 20 minutes) to watch this video. It’s not about writing. It’s creating a life where you are radiantly alive and you’re living the life you want. How many of us wait until the moment when we’re able to write? How many of us play the “if/then” game?…
Writer Wednesday : Book marketing with Carol Corbett
Last week, I had an appointment with two local publicists to help me market the books to Denver. Because I know so little about book marketing, I begged asked my friend, Carol Corbett from a great little publishing house, Publishing Works, for help. Carol is the VP of marketing at Publishing Works. We met on Twitter….
Writer's Wednesday:Publishers support authors so authors can just write – annoying myth #1
You cannot imagine how many times I’ve heard “publishers support authors so authors can just write.” Or… “It used to be that publishers supported authors so authors could just write.” Or.. “I can’t wait until I’m published so I can just stay at home and write.” Or… “I wish was (fill in the blank with…
Writer's Wednesday : Feedback
You work for years. You send your project to your friends, family and finally shell out for a ‘real copy editor’ and a ‘real content editor.’ Then, if that’s the path you choose, you send it to your publisher’s editor. This editor slaves away to make your manuscript make sense. The two of you work…
Writer's Wednesday : Never, never, never give up!
In this video, British singer Robbie Williams has one of those miraculous moments – his dreams came true. Watch his face. See the surprise, gratitude and awe of the moment when dream meets reality. Some day you’ll have the same experience. Your dreams will come true. In the words of Winston Churchill, ““Never give in,…
Writer's Wednesday: My favorite writing advice
I recently read a blog post giving 54 tips for writers and was surprised that my favorite bits of advice weren’t there. I thought I might compile my own list. So here goes: PROMOTION 1. “Think really hard before you spend a year trying to please one person in New York to get your book published by…