C.W. Thomas: Publishing

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 10: Fearing Fear

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#10 Set Yourself Free Of Fearing Fear

I recently made a trip to Nashville. It was utter misery. Not that Nashville itself was miserable, the city is actually quite a lot of fun—and the sweet tea? Oooh, the sweet tea!—but repeated car trouble had left me stranded with no idea of when I could drive back home. How long am I going to be stuck here? What about my job? How do I get back home? How much is this going to cost? Oy vey!

Oh, and then I got in an accident with the rental car that I had to use in the meantime, but that's another story.

After a nightmare of a weekend I called the mechanic on Monday to see how my car was doing, terrified that I would get more bad news. I got more bad news—I was going to be stuck in Nashville for another three days. Well, at least my insurance was covering most of the problem.

I hung up the phone and, to my surprise... I felt fine. The news I received wasn't great, but it could've been worse. At least I knew what was going to happen.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that fear isn’t the problem—fearing fear is where we run into trouble.

Remember those famous words from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

FDR was essentially telling the American people that their fear was making things worse.

When we are able to exit the crazy mental loop of fear we’ll be in a better place to see clearly, aspire meaningfully, and stop tripping over our own self-defeating feet.

Beating a fear of fear doesn't mean all of our lofty goals are realized and our dreams come true. It simply means that when we're no longer fretting over the unknown we have more room to breathe, experiment, and evolve as writers when we’re not squeezed into those small and invented stories that have been dictated to us by fear.

Your life and your writing are both precious resources. Don’t waste a drop of either. Take charge of fear by not letting it control you. When you can finally start to see around the obstacle of fear you have a chance to step into your greatest potential.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 9: Be Logical

#9 Dose Fear With Logic

As I've said before, our fear exists to keep us safe. When you're in a new city your fear helps you identify certain parts of town you may wish to avoid if you're out walking about all alone. Fear keeps you from getting too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon. Fear keeps you from swimming too far out into the ocean where dangerous currents or sharks could harm you.

Sometimes fear overreacts. Though it may have your best interests at heart, there are times when it just needs to be reasoned with.

For example, consider an inquiry process like this:

YOU: Why have I been procrastinating so much lately?
FEAR: Because you know if you finish your book you might find out it's bad. If you never finish it, you'll never have to hear the bad news. You'll be safer that way.
YOU: Who is going to say my work is bad?
FEAR: Critics. Other writers. Readers.
YOU: Maybe. Maybe not.
FEAR: Are you sure you want to take that chance?
YOU: I'd rather get some feedback, good or bad, so I can improve myself as a writer. Besides, I have confidence in my work. I believe it's good.

Your fear will have to agree.

If you are feeling fear, you are likely perceiving danger. The harder you try to silence the fear, the louder it will get to try to protect you. Therefore, I propose that you lean into that fear, and really listen to what it wants you to know. Then reason with it. Reason with yourself. You'll find that fear sometimes doesn't have a leg to stand on.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 8: Hold Your Course

#8 You Can't Steer A Still Ship

Ever kayak? I love kayaking. It's an interest that both my wife and I share. One thing you can't do in a kayak, or in any boat for that matter, is try to steer without moving. If you're just sitting there in a calm body of water and stick your paddle under the surface, nothing is going to happen. Without a current or forward momentum, you can't steer that kayak to go anywhere.

How does this translate to writing? Simple: writers with defined goals have a better chance of achieving them, and therefore give fear less of an opportunity to throw them off course.

If you have something more interesting to focus on than fear, it’s far less likely that fear will hog the spotlight of your attention. One way to hold your focus and build forward momentum is to clearly articulate for yourself why you’re working on a particular piece of writing, what motivates you to stay with it, and what the imagined end result will be.

For example, if you know that the article you're writing about famous women in history is going to teach you something that aligns with your core values, you have an intrinsic reward that's worth fighting for. If you work for a newspaper or magazine and understand that when you finish your articles you'll get a paycheck, you're more likely to invest yourself in what you're writing about. If you have a chapter by chapter outline of that novel, then you can see the end result and don't have to worry so much about running into hick-ups in the narrative.

When you have your eyes set on the next goal you create forward momentum. When fear creeps back in, it's easier to steer around it because your moving toward your goal.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 7: Do What Scares You

#7 Do What Scares You

I was a very shy, anti-social teenager. I was nerdy. I was awkward. I was like red meat for playground bullies. When I grew up and took a job at a local newspaper I had a hard time coming out of my shell—making phone calls, interviewing people, walking up to police officers and politicians and striking up a conversation to "get the inside scoop." People terrified me, and, honestly, they still do. I much prefer to live in my little bubble.

But I actually love talking to people now. After six months at the newspaper making phone calls to complete strangers felt like second nature. I could walk up to anyone on the street and strike up a conversation with them. To this day I'm continually embarrassing my wife because I'll talk with anyone about anything.

My point is simple: It's worth it spending time doing the things that scare you because the more familiar you get with those things the less intimidating they will become.

Be smart about it, of course, and assess whether this thing you fear can do you harm. If the answer is yes, don't do it. Obviously. If the answer is no, then I invite you to make a point of doing that very thing as much as you can until you exhaust fear's charge around it.

This process will likely take time, but once you beat down that fear by wearing it thin you'll find yourself a more confident person.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits

#6 Retrain Your Bad Habits

Do you tend to write and rewrite an endless succession of drafts, unable to decide when a piece is finished? This is actually a common problem I hear from many writers. They often struggle to get any work done on other parts of their work because they're continually revising one particular chapter—usually chapter one.

Or maybe you're on the flip side of this problem and you hesitate even starting on a writing project because it feels too daunting, you haven't fleshed out the next chapter, or it just seems too difficult.

If you can relate to this, try setting some performance standards for yourself.

Give yourself a time limit. Say, for example, that you just keep revising and revising and revising chapter 2 of your awesome novel. Tell yourself that today you're only going to work on it for 10 minutes and then you're going to move onto chapter 3. If you're on the flip side of this problem and you can't even get started, give yourself 10 minutes to sit down and write. MAKE yourself do it. Whatever happens, happens, and then you can go procrastinate by watching TV or scrolling through Facebook. Just. Do it. Once your writing starts to come out you'll find your flow, but, like all good habits, it will take discipline and practice.

The point is to balance all the time you're wasting—be it procrastinating on a task or spending too much time on said task—with time spent on things that actually advance your goals.

I have a personal rule I try to follow when I'm working on a book: I won't create more than three drafts of a chapter before moving onto the next. Oh, I'll come back to those chapters when the book is finished and revise some more, but not until all the rest of the chapters have had the attention of three drafts. The point of this is so that I don't get in my own way.

Like any practice, the more you implement whatever standards you’ve set, the more reliable you will become. Experiment with your own ways to accept and move through your resistance.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 5: Navigating Hardships

#5 Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be

Here's the truth about fear. It makes things hard. And if you’re used to approaching your writing life from a place of fear, you’re likely to believe that being a writer is really hard. You may even dread sitting down to write. Over time your subconscious is going to wake up to the belief that: writing = bad. And then you won't find yourself carving out time to write anymore.

Fear gets us all knotted up in such a way that we have to work twice as hard at writing, publishing, promoting and presenting just to overcome our own resistance. Such an attitude lands you shoulder-to-boulder, on an eternal uphill climb. This gets tiring fast.

When you find yourself working at a pace that feels unreasonable or exhausting, take a step back to consider whether or not fear is at play. Being driven to accomplish and succeed can be a very useful quality in the writing life. But your drive could also be the fear of failure in disguise.

Sometimes, just being still is all our writing lives need from us. I've even heard it said that the subconscious continues to work when we're asleep. I can attest to this. While working on Children of the Falls, the first book in the series ended up becoming so long that I split it in half. Suddenly I found myself in need of another title, and I struggled for days to come up with one. Then one night I dreamed of giving book 2 the title of book 1, and I woke that morning with a whole new title for book 1 sitting on my tongue.

So, take a break. Take a nap. Give your brain some rest and then come back. More will happen creatively.

Now imagine a writing life that isn't so hard, that's made a little easier because the creative juices flow a little more freely. Fear doesn't have any time to take hold because you're having too much fun! I’ll bet you could work faster and more efficiently—and even get better results—without fear weighing you down.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism

#4 Overpower Perfectionism

If you were to ask me if I'm a perfectionist, I'd have to say yes. It's one of those things that's like, "Once an addict, always an addict." Even though I'm living a life of recovery from perfectionism, it will always be a potential pitfall.

The conclusion I've reached after years of battling perfectionism is that perfectionism is not a helpmate. It's a hindrance. Though there is a side to perfectionism that can drive you to make something better, there is another side that just delays, and delays, and delays... and ultimately gets you nowhere.

Many of us have this idea that we’re meant to be perfect as writers. Instead, try thinking of your writing as akin to your fingerprints. They are what they are—unique patterns that exclusively represent you—not good or bad or better or worse than anyone else’s.

Instead of trying to perfect your writing, then, strive to get acquainted with this pattern and become more and more proficient at expressing it. There is no endpoint in this process, and we will never arrive at “perfect.” So why not give up the chase right now, and just enjoy the resonance and beauty of our humble, flawed writing as it is? As Leonard Cohen sings, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Rather than “perfect” as an end goal, try setting your sights on “finished,” and see if that gives you a bit more appreciation for the light that seeps in.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 3: Shift Your Focus

#3 Ignore the Endgame... For Now

Fear almost always has to do with the unknown. What if they hate my poetry? What if my books don't sell? What if the publisher says I suck?

But if you KNEW your book was going to successful and loved, you'd run to the post office to mail your manuscript as soon as possible, and probably even pay the exorbitant price of overnight shipping. If you KNEW your parachute would open and that you would land on the ground totally unharmed, you might give skydiving a try. Right? (Hehehe...)

Fear tends to be focused on projected outcomes—which we cannot definitively know. So, why not use fear as a signal to turn your attention to your process instead? When you give your attention to following through on a goal, taking steps to improve your craft, researching places to submit, or reading that book on marketing, you are creating a forward motion that makes it harder for fear to hold you back.

You don't have to TOTALLY ignore the results you want. Obviously, there are long-term goals to consider here, but when the ultimate result becomes your focus it distracts from all that can be accomplished in the now, especially the creative stuff.

Now, you've got an unfinished something sitting somewhere don't you? Go attack it, dude!

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 2: Admit You're Afraid

Fear can be so damaging, crippling us to the point of leaving us stagnant. Heck, writing this series of blogs was intimidating enough at times. I'd ask myself, "Why am I doing this? Do I even know what I'm talking about? Who am I to write about fear? I'm no expert!" And the more questions I asked, the more fearful I became of writing this. Surely there are experts better equipped than this poor sap.

But, hey, I've felt fear. I know what it's like to hover over that blank page and wonder if I'm good enough to write what I want to say. I've opened that letter of rejection just dreading the criticism. I've read those emails from readers calling my work... all sorts of nasty things.

But, fortunately, when it comes to fear, I've had my small measures of success in rising above it. So maybe I've got a thing or two to share that will help. Like how conquering fear isn't really about conquering fear. It's simply saying, "Yep, I'm afraid."

#2 Admit You're Afraid Without Letting Fear Take Over

When we're afraid, there's a plethora of inner voices that come to life and tell us all sorts of lies—that we're not good enough, that no one cares about what we have to say, that we're alone, that we're too weird... whatever. These negative thoughts can short-circuit our creativity if we let them, so it's up to us to re-wire our thinking so that we can short-circuit fear.

In the film A Beautiful Mind, when someone from the Nobel Prize committee asks schizophrenic mathematician John Nash how he silenced the voices that threatened to interfere with his work and his life, Nash replies something to the effect of, “I didn’t. They’re talking to me right now. I have simply made a choice to stop engaging with what they’re saying.”

This is every writer’s opportunity with fear—to learn to live with the negative stories that get airtime in our minds without letting them limit what we know we are called to do.

Chances are good that your fear is just trying to protect you from feeling pain. And this is good. This is the way we are wired as human beings. But fear can usually be reasoned with. Once you convince your mind that even if that manuscript gets rejected, you're going to be ok. Even if your beta readers are overly critical, there will still be some good feedback to mine from. Tell your fear that you'll never reach your goals without taking some risks. Once you convince it that you’re going to be just fine, it will likely let up, and eventually even shut up for good.

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 1: Identify Fear

You stare at the blank page.

You hesitate dropping that manuscript in the mail box.

You look out at the audience with your book in your lap and butterflies in your stomach.

For a writer, there are many things that can trigger fear. Sometimes that fear is so intimidating that we don't move at all. Our books don't get written. Our poems don't get read. Our words don't get published. And that's when fear becomes a problem.

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#1 Identify Fear

Fear is neither good nor bad. It’s simply an emotional reaction that lets us know where we are meeting or anticipating challenge. Fear can be healthy when you're doing something like touring the Grand Canyon and you don't want to fall over the edge. The fear of gravity is merely self-preservation at work. So is the fear of rotating lawn mower blades, live electrical wires, and great white sharks (actually, my shark fear may have more to do with seeing Jaws when I was eight, but, never mind...)

Fear becomes a problem when we do (or don’t do) something to try to avoid feeling it. For example, if we let the fear of rejection prevent us from sending in that manuscript, we are ensuring that we’ll never realize our aspirations.

It can be difficult identifying fear when it's subtle. If you’re overperforming, underperforming or avoiding performing altogether, chances are good that fear is in play.

For example, did you ever consider that the piece of writing you just can’t get right—and therefore endlessly revise—may be a reflection of your fear? Fear of perfection, maybe? Fear of pleasing others? Fear of not measuring up to someone's standard? When we find fear at the root of a challenging habit or behavior, we are fortunate—because with awareness, we have choices. And choices lead to progress :-)

Where might fear be creeping into your life?

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Make Your Goals Specific And Measurable... Like Batman!

Batman is the quintessential problem solver. Since his inception in 1939 he has always been, first and foremost, a detective. A costumed Sherlock Holmes. More than his martial arts skills, his money, or his gadgets, Batman's intellect has always proven to be his most valuable asset.

Though the movies have often failed to demonstrate this aspect of the Caped Crusader, there's a great scene in "The Dark Knight Rises" that shows Batman's intellect and how victory can be achieved when you first break down your problems and tackle them one step at a time.

First, you've got to understand, that in "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman had spent the majority of the movie getting beaten to a pulp. He had grown too cocky, over-confident, and had lost his edge. As a result, when he finally comes face-to-face with the physically superior villain Bane, Batman gets pulverized and tossed into a third world dungeon with a busted back.

As his body heals, Batman considers what he did wrong, and when he finally returns to Gotham City he approaches Bane like a surgeon, dissecting the threat before they come to blows. First, he recruits some allies. Then he gathers his equipment. Then he spreads hope to the citizens of Gotham and fear to the bad guys. Finally, after months of planning, Batman springs his trap and defeats the antagonist.

With a little planning, determination, and some allies, nothing is impossible to overcome.

Don't try to tackle your problems all at the same time. I find if I think of writing and editing and marketing and networking and plotting and characters and printing and... Sigh. It gets overwhelming. So every now and then I break down my priorities.

As Batman so clearly demonstrates in "The Dark Knight Rises," your goals must be specific and measurable. When he returned to Gotham City to face Bane again, he had a detailed plan. It's an example of the obvious—if your goals are too vague they are just dreams. My wife turned my onto the idea of a "power hour." Every day for one hour I have a list of things I need to accomplish related to my writing: check Facebook, upload/download content, check-in with crit group, network, etc. If I don't have a plan, I forget, and the work doesn't get done.

Long-term thinkers are the ones who win. Batman knew that defeating Bane was essential to the survival of Gotham City. His plan took months to form, but it was for a far-reaching purpose. Today's culture doesn't think like this. We're all about immediacy and convenience, and rarely do we think beyond our needs for the day, week, or maybe even the month. But when we keep our eyes on the future instead of our immediate circumstances, the possibility of reaching our goals becomes more and more inevitable.

You may find yourself beaten at times, overwhelmed by writer's block or a discouraging review. You may find that there are some Banes out there who are going to catch you off guard, knock you down, and thwart all of your efforts, but you can't let your circumstances overwhelm you.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Critique Circle: Feedback To Advance Your Novel Several Drafts

A while back I joined an online writing community called Critique Circle. It's a safe place for writers to submit their work and get feedback from other writers. It's been a valuable tool for me to gauge my story and characters, catch problems before they get out of hand, and also encourage myself to keep being excited about writing.

Critique Circle works like this: You sign up for free. To get critiques, you need to give critiques. For every critique you give, you get credits (usually 1 or 1 1/2, though maybe more if it's an especially long piece you're critiquing.) It costs 3 credits to submit your own work for critique. Once you submit something, your work goes up at the start of the next critique round, which happens once a week. People read your work, critique it, and you get to read the critiques as you receive them.

Pretty slick, eh?

Before I discuss the cons of Critique Circle, let me just say I've found it incredibly helpful. I have a tendency to fall in love with my own words, and I know I use too many words, so having someone read a chapter and say, "You know, you could say this in about half as many words," is great for me. Most of the people who give critiques are very nice. Sure there's a few jerks on there, but, hey, this is the internet. If you can't handle a few jerks you probably shouldn't be online.

The downsides of Critique Circle:

Lots of high school and novice writers. You'll notice this as you start critiquing work. It's difficult because, A. You can tell the work stinks, but B. You need to be constructive about it especially if you want a constructive critique in return. I mean, everyone starts out as a crappy writer. We all need help in order to improve, but it does get tiring reading young adult ripoffs of Twilight and The Hunger Games written by teenage fans.
The time it takes to get a critique is too long. I've got 60+ chapters to get critiqued, but you can only submit one a week. There is a "novel system" on Critique Circle that allows you to submit all of your chapters, but this requires a fan base of reliable "critters" who will plow through your manuscript. You also need to sign up for the paid membership, which is $34.

Is it worth it? So far I'm going to say yes, it is. Having other readers give me feedback this early on in the process is already taking my work to where it would be after three or four self-edited drafts.

Is Critique Circle for everyone? No. If you can't take feedback, you're probably not going to like this site. If you don't like not knowing who is on the other end, you should probably try to find an editor or agent. There aren't a lot of non-fiction works on Critique Circle, so if you're a law student writing an essay on the practice of criminal defense, or a surgeon writing How To Perform Open Heart Surgery, you probably won't get a lot of valuable feedback. For creative writers though, it has the potential to be a gold mine.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Three Things Every Author Needs To Do

If you're serious about getting published...

For your convenience, I've written that sentence a second time.

If you're SERIOUS about getting published, (did that drive my point home?) here are three things that are absolutely not an option.

Number One

You have to know your craft. There are grammatical quirks in the English language that still trip up everyone, but the best writers are those who never stop learning. Remember the day you finally mastered the difference between "their," "they're," and "there"? Or that time you Googled "semicolon use for dummies" and finally figured out how to use it? Keep doing those kinds of things. Always.

I recently finished laying out a book for an author who knew nothing about the underlying rules of creative writing. I wanted to rename her book "The Hyphen Chronicles," because, I swear, there were more hyphens in this book than I've probably used in all the books I've ever written. Compound adjectives that were hyphenated, not hyphenated, made into one word... There was no consistency. It was sloppy, amateurish, and sad. Please, take an English class. Take a creative writing class. Get plugged into a local writing group. There is no better way to keep your manuscript from getting shoved to the bottom of a publisher's or agent's slush pile than to completely ignore the widely-accepted basics of your craft.

Number Two

You've got to let people read your writing. I know it's your baby. I know you're scared to let it come under the gun, but better get that critique now before you send it out into the cold, hard world. I'm sure you're friends with an English teacher, a book-loving stay-at-home mom, a librarian, or someone who devours books like the apocalypse is coming. So recruit some of these people to be beta readers. Get at least a dozen people to read your work and tell you what they think. I guarantee they'll come up with valuable insights that haven't even crossed your mind, insights that will have the potential to immensely improve your book IF you're humble enough to take their advice to heart.

Number Three

Have your book professionally edited. In the absolute least, get it proof-read, especially if you're going the indie author route. If you want to be taken seriously by book reviewers, bloggers, or even readers, having a book that has been edited will help it stand out above the rest. I met an author recently who said he won't even read books for endorsements unless they have been professionally edited. I kind of admit, I agree with him. A book loaded with typos and punctuation errors is a pain to read, and it won't win you many praises from your peers.

Trust me. I've been on both sides of these issues. I've been the author who was too afraid to ask people for critique, and I've been the publisher who was face-palming himself over an atrociously written manuscript. Don't be just another first-time author. Learn your craft. Have your work critiqued. Get edited. Get noticed!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Why I Turned My Back On Big Publishers

Working with authors as often as I do, I find that many of them still haven't come to grips with the fact that the world of publishing has changed. Many publishers are finding it difficult to get on board with this as well. I work for a publisher, so I've seen this first hand.

The title of this post may give the impression that I am against publishers, which I am not. I applaud any author who finds success with a decent publisher these days, but the percentage of authors who find that success is becoming smaller and smaller because, like I said, publishing has changed.

My first novel was published when I was 17 years old, a medieval fantasy book for teens. It's not in print anymore so I have no reservations in saying that, well... it sucked. But it was my first experience with a publisher, and it wasn't a good one. Eight years later my second experience with a different publisher was better, but only because my marketing know-how had grown and my expectations were much more realistic. Still, the publisher was slow, not very communicative, and they didn't help my book at all apart from printing and design. I wrote a sequel to that second book and signed a contract with the same publisher. They sat on it for two years. The contract expired. I said, "Um, can I have my book back?" And we parted ways.

By this time, my disdain for publishers was growing.

Then Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series started becoming a cultural phenomenon. I had heard that the book was badly written, but I needed to see for myself just HOW bad it was. So I read it. Folks, it was more than bad. Ridiculous abusive relationship story aside, the narrative was bloated with some of the worst dialogue I've ever read, the biggest misuse of adjectives I've ever seen, and some absolutely embarrassing prose that left me shocked that any publisher would even consider printing this book. Moreover, this piece of so-called "literature" had millions of readers buzzing. How? Why? I mean... seriously?

Twilight killed me zeal for writing for several years. That's how discouraged I was. And, honestly, I'm having a hard time not getting pissed off all over again with horribly written books like 50 Shades of Grey getting all the attention, but I've matured. Or maybe not. I don't know. That's beside the point.

To this day I am disheartened by the quality of books passing through mainstream publishers. There is no longer a focus on good writing, editing, or content. Publishers today are looking to fill a mold established by marketing executives who figure out what's popular, what will sell, who will buy it, and then search for the right manuscript to fill that prerequisite. Authors aren't picked by big publishing houses because they have amazing writing talent, they're picked because some secret focus group said so. It's all about the Benjamins, baby!

On a recent 20-hour flight to Maui I had downloaded a bunch of free indie books to my Kindle for something to do on the plane. Most of them were pretty bad, but a few were, surprisingly, quite good. I mean really good! (I'll be posting reviews of some of these books in the future, so keep checking back.) These were books by writers who had taken the time to have their books professionally edited, proof-read, and designed. They had snazzy-looking covers and they were totally original, beautifully written, and unlike ANYTHING you'd find from a mainstream publisher.

These indie authors were onto something. They had latched onto the fact that the world of publishing isn't what it used to be. With so many writers elbowing for sales, and with print books becoming less and less in-demand, publishers aren't as willing to take risks on new and unknown authors. Thanks to Amazon's easy do-it-yourself publishing platform, authors now have more control of their work and retain more of their sales, but, unfortunately, that means they need to work harder and write more content in order to make substantial money. But the ones who do are the ones who thrive.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

#10 Set Yourself Free Of Fearing Fear

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

#9 Dose Fear With Logic

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

#8 You Can't Steer A Still Ship

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

#7 Do What Scares You

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

#6 Retrain Your Bad Habits

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

#5 Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

#4 Overpower Perfectionism

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

#3 Ignore the Endgame... For Now

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

#2 Admit You're Afraid Without Letting Fear Take Over

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

#1 Identify Fear

The Rest of This Series

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The downsides of Critique Circle:

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Number One

Number Two

Number Three

Tuesday, March 10, 2015