Tag: author advice

Writing is Like Sex

I thought that might get your attention…

Writing is to being an author like sex is to being a lover. There may be some natural ability, and the first, fumbling steps may even hold the promise of some wondrous things to come. It’s possible to get by, at least initially, with a measure of natural talent; a degree of youthful exuberance certainly doesn’t go amiss either (even if the individual concerned is not that young). However, without practice and (we all know that it’s not practice that makes perfect but rather perfect practice that makes perfect) probably tutoring, and most certainly some guidance will be needed to help and encourage that budding, and talented individual to reach their full potential. Continue reading “Writing is Like Sex”

Formula for a Bestselling Romantic Thriller

UPGRADE by Stephen Hise
Every thriller should have a main character with flaws and a deep, dark secret.

In this series, so far I’ve shared with you the formula for writing a blockbuster action/adventure bestseller, and a knock-em dead romance bestseller. In this installment, we’re going to cover writing an earth-shattering, edge-of-the-seat romantic thriller!

Yeah, I knew you were going to ask what qualifies me to give this advice. Aside from the fact that I’ve extensively researched stalking (for my books, of course), and I’ve won awards for my action-adventure thriller Lust for Danger, I got help this time. Our very own Evil Mastermind, Stephen Hise – author of the psychological thriller Upgrade, has contributed to this special recipe. So grab your pen and take notes. This is going to blow you away.

Now let’s get to it. Follow my advice below, and you’ll be Hollywood-bound, my friend!

Continue reading “Formula for a Bestselling Romantic Thriller”

Tutorial: Screen Captures

How did I make this? Stay tuned and you’ll find out!

Screen captures (also known as screen shots) come in handy for many reasons. You can use them to show someone when your computer is doing something funky, preserve book reviews in an image file, capture blog comments for legal reasons, provide instructions to someone, create print-outs of web-based stuff for promotional materials, and many other purposes.

While some things put up on the Internet are “forever,” some things aren’t. So I try to grab an image of any press I get and put that on my website. I include the link at the top so people can see where the story originated, but if that link becomes void it’s now literally preserved forever on my site. Here’s an example of a story run in a Vancouver-area online newspaper. The great thing about that is that you can trim out all the other “briefs” and just focus on yours. This, of course, is just one usage. Continue reading “Tutorial: Screen Captures”

I Have Never Paid for It

Bookbub is a new company which, as you probably know, sends out email shots to hundreds of thousands of registered readers, publicizing a handful of free and discounted books each day. It’s not just for indies either; recently I’ve seen ads for books by James Patterson and Ian Rankin.

Ad prices vary, depending on the book’s genre and offer price ( http://www.bookbub.com/advertise/pricing.php ). Their ad prices are apparently rising steadily. Also, they’re selective in which ads they take. The good folk at Bookbub clearly have impeccable taste, because last week they chose to publicize my novel HOPE ROAD. I didn’t ask them to feature it, and I didn’t pay anything. In fact, until they mailed me to let me know I’d been featured I had no idea that Bookbub existed. It seems that, as they develop their business, they select the odd Amazon freebie and include it alongside their paid ads, no charge to the author. Continue reading “I Have Never Paid for It”