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Do I Need an Agent to be a Successful Author?
No, you don’t need a literary agent if you are going the self-publishing route with your books. My saying that is probably going to raise the ire of many literary agents, but I always try to give you the truth. Literary Agent a professional agent who acts on behalf of an author in dealing with publishers and others involved in promoting the author’s work. Typically, literary agents work for literary agencies to pitch authors’ ideas to publishers and television and film producers. If you are self-publishing, then they may be a waste of money. However, if you are actively pursuing a publishing house deal or trying to sell the rights…
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Is Writing Becoming an Art Lost On Our Times?
In many ways, writing is an art lost in our times, but there is still hope! Last year (2021) more than 825 million books were sold! Readers are still out there! As we progress deeper into the first quarter of the 21st century, we are becoming more and more an instant gratification society, not just in the United States but around the world. Reading a book doesn’t provide the instant gratification of say watching a movie or television show, but we writers still have an edge. Movies and television shows leave little to the imagination; we see how the characters look, hear how they speak, and experience the settings as…
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Self-Publishing Format Pros & Cons
Self-publishing format options are now starting to rival those of traditional publishers although the quality and availability of the products are still somewhat lacking. In this post, I will describe the book format options that are readily available to self-publishers and list the pros and cons of each. For the purposes of this article, I will consider the options offered through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. Why KDP when there are other alternatives out there? Two reasons: It is the platform that I use and Amazon is a massive marketplace for your books. Kindle eBook Although the format is proprietary, Amazon has sold somewhere between 25 and 100 million…
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Should I Start a Blog
Running a blog can be a great way to get your name and your content out there for readers. You should consider starting a blog if: 1. You have something useful to say. Think about that for a minute. Blogs are a dime a dozen and most live a lifetime in obscurity. If you are going to start a blog, make sure you have something useful to offer your readers (advice, information, guidance, direction, opportunities). If you are simply planning on spamming posts of your products that are for sale, then skip the blog concept entirely. That content is okay in moderation, but it shouldn’t be the central intention of…
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Why Aren’t My Books Selling?
If your self-published books are not selling there could be a number of reasons why. In this post, I will try to help you understand what might be holding your books back from massive sales. 1. Content First and foremost, we should discuss the content. If your book caters to a small niche of readers (e.g. The Basics of Origami), then that will directly impact your sales. The other issue with content is quality. If your plot is weak or your characters dull, then sales will suffer accordingly. If you’re looking for big numbers in sales, then shoot for a broader target audience and make sure you’re writing quality books.…
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Scrivener Basics Series Episode 1: New Projects
In the Scrivener Basics Series, self-published author David Maxwell walks us through the general use and functionality of this incredible software application for writers. Episode 1: New Projects covers how to create a new project and highlights the extensive benefits of writing with Scrivener versus a traditional text editor. As the series continues, he will address front and back matter design, formatting techniques, compile options, and much more. Stay tuned…
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Offering FREE Book Reviews & Author Interviews
As a fellow aspiring bestselling author, I am offering to review and/or interview any fellow author under certain restrictions. If you meet the submission guidelines, I will read your book, post a review on Amazon and Goodreads, highlight it on my website, and offer you a personal interview to be posted on my blog and social media outlets. This is a no-charge service to support my fellow authors. Submission Requirements & Process 1. You must have at least one published book available for purchase on Amazon. 2. The book you submit must have at least five reviews with an overall 4-star rating on Amazon or better. 3. You must be…
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What Type of Sci-Fi Do You Write?
I enjoy all types of science-fiction. While writing, I try not to pigeonhole myself to any specific sub-genre and I occasionally branch out into horror. In this post, I will share where I think the sci-fi genre is going and the types of books I write within it. By broad definition, science-fiction is fictional science. If you look at it from that top-level, any book that mentions an ability, device, or concept that goes beyond what our sciences are currently capable of creating or explaining would have sci-fi elements. If you write a romance about time-travelers, even if the time-travel is secondary, it still has roots in science-fiction although it…
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Why Do You Have Ads on Your Website?
You may have recently noticed a change to my website. Now, my blog posts and pages come with small advertisement links to products on Amazon. They are not random or unintentional; I handpick each one and place them there myself. Why? Two reasons: 1. Provide my readers with quick access to products they can use. If my post is about how to develop your characters, then you will find links to products that will aid you in that effort. If the post is on software tools for authors, then you will find purchase links for the products I’m recommending. Each advertisement is based on the contents of my posts. Many…
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Sentence Structure
Once again, this is something that can make or break an author. If you don’t understand proper sentence structure then you are going to lose your readers no matter how well your plot is thought out. As an author, understanding basic sentence structure is only the tip of the iceberg. We don’t live by following all of the rules, so readers don’t expect to see them followed all of the time. Take this grammatically faulted example for illustration: “Run! Look out! Oh no! Good Lord… What next?” There is nothing in that passage that fits with proper sentence structure but it does elicit emotion and generate interest. As with all…
