J. Michael Straczynski’s Income Advice For Writers

J. Michael Straczynski’s Income Advice For Writers Not just for hard times. Are you putting all your eggs in one creative basket? In Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer, J. Michael Straczynski spoke of the Three Legged Stool Theory, proposing that all writers need at least three streams of revenue and three streams of creative expression, […]

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And Now…AI Artwork. What Does This Mean For Indie Publishing?

And Now…AI Artwork. What Does This Mean For Indie Publishing? Actually, for all graphic work, everywhere? Earlier this month, Cosmopolitan released a digital issue of their magazine that included an AI-designed cover. At the time of writing this, I could not find the issue for sale anywhere, but found multiple articles on the building of

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One More Reason To Be A Prolific Writer

One More Reason To Be A Prolific Writer And why this one will be critical in the future No matter what you write, writing a lot comes with benefits. Authors like Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush make excellent cases for writing quantities of non-fiction.  I’ve spent years and written dozens of posts exploring the benefits

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What Pissed You Off Today? Use Your Life to Build Amazing Stories

What Pissed You Off Today? Use Your Life to Build Amazing Stories A quick technique for story ideas that write themselves So what made you swear under your breath today?  What had you gritting your teeth?  Or did something amazing happen?  How did you feel about that, right in the moment?  Did a quiet moment

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Two Questions That Transform Your Meh Fiction Idea To One Readers Rush To Buy

Most story ideas, even the coolest of them, are just ideas. Here’s an idea I grabbed off a random plot generator I found online: An action thriller set in New York in the 1980s about a dying cop with a secret, trying to do a heist. Now there’s some intriguing ideas in this one.  More

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How to get rid of habits that screw with your writing.

How to get rid of habits that screw with your writing. What’s tripping you up? If you constantly find yourself not writing, it’s time to find the tripwire. The best writing ritual in the world won’t overcome a habit-snare hiding among your prayers to muses and your affirmations that you are a brilliant and prolific

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The One Thing You Cannot Do When You Hit The Dip With Your Novel

The One Thing You Cannot Do When You Hit The Dip With Your Novel Do This Instead I’ve written (plus finished and published) over 120 novels, and this is a pattern I’ve detected. Around the one third mark, usually not long after you get into the second act, you’ll be convinced the story is garbage

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3 Reasons Why You’re Giving Up on Indie Publishing Too Soon

3 Reasons Why You’re Giving Up on Indie Publishing Too Soon And 2 reasons why you SHOULD walk away. I’m an old hand at indie publishing (11 years, last March), so I’m kinda puzzled by the attitude I keep stumbling over…well, everywhere. Zulie Rane, in her Medium article, “5 Uber-Popular Passive Income Streams That Aren’t Worth the

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Google Has Made a Brilliant Strategic Move

Google Has Made a Brilliant Strategic Move Why Indie Authors Should Capitalize on It In late April this year, Google Play Books announced the launch of an AI Narrated Audiobook beta program for indie authors and publishers using their retail platform. There’s a few conditions attached. Surprisingly few. It was an incredibly smart move. Here’s why.

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One Key To Keeping Your Genre Fiction Plots Tight and Your Reader Flipping Pages

One Key To Keeping Your Genre Fiction Plots Tight and Your Reader Flipping Pages Hack through Every Plotting Structure, including The Hero’s Journey You can go crazy trying to find and use the ideal plotting structure. Three act structure. Four act structure. Save the Cat. Story Physics. Story Grid. Even the venerable Hero’s Journey. Every guru says

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