A writer's journey...

Navigate the world of self-publishing successfully by applying just 12 tips of the trade. Self-publishing is both rewarding and challenging—and has no guarantees of success. There are so many books flooding the market these days, and authors need to have a strong game plan more than ever before. The following tips, though not a comprehensive list, are some things to focus on to give yourself a better chance of self-publishing success. 1. Effective immediately: Eliminate the word hobby from your vocabulary. Successful authors view writing as a career. Before I made a single cent with my writing, I would take offense when anyone called my writing a hobby. It’s important you take your writing seriously and view publishing as a business because that’s what it truly is. Not only does this require the right mindset, it demands dedication and consistency.   2. Schedule your time. We all have twenty-four hours in a day, and we have many roles we play, along with ...

I can’t believe it’s been over two years since I wrote a piece for this blog! And before that, only one post in 2015. It seems like I was more active here leading up to 2014—before I started living every author’s dream and was able to quit my day job! It’s funny that when you’re dreaming of writing full-time, you imagine that when it happens you’ll have so much time. You tell yourself you’ll do this; you’ll do that. But reality has other plans. If you’ve made it to the point that you’re a full-time author, you’ve already treated your craft as a business. But when you set out on your own, you know that you’re running a business. After all, if you don’t manage your time and produce product, work marketing into your schedule, allocate time to engage with readers, and the list goes on, you’ll find that sales may slow down. And if you’re not at the point where you can be serving your notice just yet, keep these things in mind for when that time comes. (Notice when , not if . I b...

A book would be nothing without characters, and with such an important role, it’s vital that we create ones that are strong and rememberable. These include our supporting characters. When creating your main characters no doubt you put much time and effort into crafting their personality, their history, their relationships with others, their personal tastes in all areas of life, their physical appearance, their desires and needs, their background, education, occupation, and the list goes on. To sum this up, you know your main characters intimately. The same should be said of your supporting characters. You might be wondering why as they don’t have the same on-the-page time as do main characters, but here’s the reason: characters can make or break your book just as a bad actor or actress can kill a movie. Consider for a minute how boring it would be if all your characters were black shadows walking through a cardboard city. That’s essentially how flat a story can be if...

Last week I started to share my writing journey with you. It’s one that seems to inspire others, as well as myself. What took place in my life confirmed that I was meant to be an author. If you’re an author, you will have your own story, I have no doubt. But, here is the rest of mine. (If you didn’t catch Part 1, you can find it here .) Back in 2006, the economy was strong, and I was young and determined to find happiness with my employment. I wasn’t looking for a career, I was simply looking for a place where I’d be happy and my mind would be challenged. That year, I left a company I had worked at for seven years because I wanted a change. I ended up working at three different places in three months—and all the moves were my doing! What can I say? I knew what I wanted and I hadn’t found it yet. Through all of this, my sweet husband supported my decisions. He says he never had any doubt in my abilities. That’s probably a good reason I’ve kept him around so long. (Nineteen year...

A common question I’m asked as an author is, “when did you start writing?” Every time I get to answer this question, I fall in love all over again…not that I ever really fell out of love. Some people might tell you that they loved books from the time they could read, that they were writing stories in crayon, that writing is what defines their entire life up until this point. Well, my story is a little different. It’s a unique one that usually sends spikes of energy through me and those I’m telling it to. It didn’t necessarily start off that exciting, but how I became reunited with writing after being away from it for thirteen years, is my story alone to tell. So here goes. My story starts off much like other authors. I did start writing when I was young, but it wasn’t with crayons. It was on a typewriter and then on a computer. I was a teenager at the time and in love with the dramatics involved with young romance. Maybe it was a reflection of all the tangled emotions that w...

While we may not ask the question in so many words, it’s calculated in the background of our mind every time we choose a book to read. We have expectations about the storyline and how it will make us feel. If it’s a non-fiction book we want to come away having learned something. If it’s fiction we want to escape reality for a bit and take up with imaginary characters. We want to get lost in a world that’s not ours. Really, then, we are not buying books, we are buying outcomes . Focusing on the fictional aspect, we likely decide on a police procedural novel to enter the world of crime scene investigation. We want to be a part of the investigation, solving the case alongside the characters. We want to be thrown off by red herrings, be side-swiped by the twists and turns, and by the end we expect that the murderer face justice. We don’t just want the novel coming at us. We want to think as we read and anticipate what might be coming next. We want to solve the case before our be...

Love your book come edit time Most authors don't ever want to see "their baby" again by the time it's published. They've read it, revised it, and rewritten parts it more times than they care to count. What if I told you the process could be a little easier?  Why not take a proactive approach? Here are 5 steps to make editing easier from the first draft: 1) Research before you write your book. This can be forensics, procedure, weapons--basically anything that pertains to your story. 2) Outline. Now if you're more of a panster you might balk at this, but at this point, I see value in at least setting out with a rough outline. If you don't want to do this from the start, as the story gets going, jot out future scenes. The benefit to this is logical progression. I have learned this lesson the hard way and it resulted in more intensive edits and rewrites. 3) Write when you're alert and sober. Writing is a business. Would you ever show u...