Month: April 2016

Writing as Therapy

perplexed woman using writing as therapyMany of us might consider what we do when we write creatively to already be therapeutic; after all, if we didn’t get that story and those characters out of our brains and down on paper, we just might go nuts. But I’ve found a huge therapeutic benefit from writing when I need to vent, when I need to puzzle something out, and when I need to get a grip on some issue so I can quit obsessing about it.

I was reminded of that recently. I was having a problem and needed to write a letter to get it resolved. The sticking point was that I could not lay the problem solely at the doorstep of the people I was sending the letter to; I had a hand in it, as well. Although I had acted in good faith, I had made a weird situation worse, and I had to own up to that. But the overarching problem began with these others. Continue reading “Writing as Therapy”

William Kowalski – Straddling Trad and Indie Publishing

indie heroes logo darkSeveral years ago I read William Kowalski‘s novel Eddie’s Bastard. For me this was a book that made an impression and stayed with me. Mr. Kowalski contacted me recently because he’d picked up my self-publishing guidebook and wanted to chat Indie publishing. When I discovered that he’d gone the Indie route a couple of years back, I knew I had to interview him. And when I heard what he’d been working on for Indie authors I knew I had to let you guys know.

Martin: Mr. Kowalski, thanks for doing this. I’ll get my fanboy moment out of the way right off the bat – thank you for Eddie’s Bastard. It’s one of my favorite books. Continue reading “William Kowalski – Straddling Trad and Indie Publishing”

K.S. Brooks, My Indie Hero

indie heroes logo darkWhen I was a little newbie and didn’t know SEO from a hole in the ground, I wandered into a Facebook group and met a smart, sassy author and photographer named KS Brooks, also known as Kat. At the time, I had a manuscript I was thinking of self-publishing. And a lot of questions. Kat answered them. She was funny and had a very long list of titles to her credit: two thriller series and the delightful Mr. Pish books. I could only dream of having so many books on my shelf one day. And she shared her bounty of knowledge. I read the articles she suggested and paid attention to the discussions. She and Stephen Hise ran a website called Indies Unlimited, and it was rife with people doing what I wanted to do. I felt like I’d found my tribe.

As I moved from a casual reader of the blog to a guest-poster to a full-fledged minion, Kat was always there to help me. Continue reading “K.S. Brooks, My Indie Hero”

#IndieHero: David Gaughran

indie heroes logo darkFrom the time I started publishing in 2012, I was aware of David Gaughran, first through his historical fiction, then through his two self-publishing how-to books. Over time, I grew to admire him because he seemed to be putting more time and energy into helping others than he did himself. Plus, he has tackled scummy vanity presses like Author Solutions. Here’s an interview I did with my favorite muckraker, David Gaughran.

Shawn: You’ve written two books to help indie authors – Let’s Get Digital, and Let’s Get Visible. You released a second version of Let’s Get Digital, but as fast as our publishing world changes, are you anticipating writing a new version of either any time soon? Continue reading “#IndieHero: David Gaughran”