Writing about writing. Mostly.
By Ruth Harris Q: How do you know you’re a “real writer?” A: Your back hurts. So do your shouders and neck. (And maybe your hands and wrists don’t feel so great, either.) Sorry about that—I truly am—but I’ve been there and I (literally) feel your pain. Not just the existential kind resulting from rejection […]
By Sue Coletta Historical true crime requires the writer to don a detective’s hat to unearth real details about the case(s), and the research can seem daunting at times. Historical fiction also demands that the writer get his/her facts straight. Today, I offer tips to help you find reliable source material, from which to build […]
by David Brown and Michelle Barker Have you ever had what you thought was a great idea for a novel, sat down and wrote madly for fifteen pages, and then it just… fizzled out? Or maybe you managed to make it through a whole novel on the energy of that one idea, but somehow it […]
Many authors don’t know that Kindle keywords aren’t something you should set and forget. In fact, there are tactics you can use to increase your sales that involve changing your Kindle keywords. In this article, we’ll go over those tactics — and why you should consider changing your Kindle keywords at least once every few […]
by Ruth Harris Fake it until you make it. It’s old advice, and for some people it works. Sometimes. But what if you’ve made it? You’ve finished your book (or books), you’ve been published or you self-published. You’ve sold copies, you’ve received checks from your agent, your publisher or from Amazon and iBooks, you’ve been […]
By Nate Hoffelder Authors need to be prepared to be either the guest or the host of a livestream event, and if you have never done that before, here are a few tips to get you started. When the US finally responded to the pandemic in mid-March by essentially shutting down, many of us thought […]
by Barb Drozdowich Do you dream about creating a group of Superfans who will buy every book you write? Yes? Well, then, do you make it easy for readers to become your Superfans? I’m Barb Drozdowich, the admin of this site, and a technical trainer by trade. “How to make it easier to turn your […]
By William L. Hahn We often think of writing as a life filled with the once-and-done. There’s this book, we must write it; Muse willing you finish, then jot “The End” and it’s on to a completely different story. Each tale is complete, the characters exist only so long as you were penning more words […]
No one less than Stephen King has passed along some career-changing advice. “I got a scribbled comment that changed the way I rewrote my fiction once and forever. Jotted below the machine-generated signature of the editor was this mot: “Not bad, but PUFFY. You need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft […]
by Ruth Harris One of the primo, Number One “rules” for writers is write what you know. Writing what you know is generally excellent advice for writers who are in the early stages of their careers. Knowing your setting — whether it’s geographical, professional, familial, is one less issue you’ll have to face when you’re still not […]
by Mara Purl Every author wants their novels to be made into a film or a television series. Right? So let’s take a look at how these two worlds of “series”—both the readable and the viewable kind—connect, overlap, or compete. Some people discover a great series first on TV, then want to dig deeper by […]
Yoast SEO Secrets from the hard-working (if judgemental) WordPress Elves by Anne R. Allen Our fantastic webmaster, Barb Drozdowich of Bakerview Consulting, put a Yoast SEO plug-in on this blog when she rescued us several years ago. (After my disastrous attempt at turning this into a “monetized” blog. Note: Author blogs shouldn’t be monetized.) Like […]
by Anne R. Allen We all have a writing craft issue or two…or three or four or five, no matter where we are in our careers. Yes, even professional authors who have written ten or more novels. I’m wrestling with some myself with my forthcoming Camilla book, Catfishing in America, which is still, alas, only […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris