Tag: author advice

My Opinion on Everything

K. S. Brooks with the Washington Post NewshoundThat’s right: I have an opinion on everything. I’ve shown you what your minimal requirements should be for building your author empire here. Now I’m going to tell you some other things you need to know.

1. Backlist. Having only one published book is NOT going to cut it. You need lots of books. If you expect to sell a million books, having a million titles to sell is a phenomenally good idea. That would mean you’d only have to sell one of each title to reach your goal. Of course, you know you can easily sell one book. So, your goal should be to write a good portion of the books you intend to sell. This is such simple logic. I don’t understand why no one gets this.

2. Loss Leader. A loss leader is something that you don’t mind losing money on because it draws people to your offerings and they purchase your other stuff. It’s like the sacrificial lamb of your backlist. This is something every author should have. I’m very good at loss leaders, so take my word for it. I have 10 of them. Continue reading “My Opinion on Everything”

The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle

Author David Biddle
Author David Biddle

One very important inexpensive marketing tool indie bloggers don’t talk about enough is the simultaneous publishing of both electronic and paperback versions of books – ebooks and pbooks.

A study by The Pew Center indicates that 19% of adults in this country now have tablet computers and 19% have dedicated ereaders. These numbers are up from about 5% in 2010. That’s remarkable.

But these statistics still mean that the bulk of the population doesn’t own technology designed to optimize the digital book reading experience. For this reason, indie writers should seriously consider making their next novel available as a paperback as well as an ebook. Such a move expands the reading market significantly. There are dozens of Print-On-Demand (POD) companies out there offering a variety of support services (to get started, check out one list here) to support indie writers who are so inclined. Continue reading “The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle”

How “Real” Should A Novel Be? by John Wayne Falbey

Author John Wayne Falbey
Author John Wayne Falbey

Back in April, author James Bruno suggested in these pages what he believes are the two essential ingredients for a successful novel. One of these is knowledge of the subject matter. His point is that successful works of fiction utilize characters and story lines that closely resemble reality; in other words, they achieve verisimilitude.

The other critical ingredient lies in crafting a good story. Attorneys have a label for something this obvious: sine qua non; which means the thing speaks for itself. Readers of fiction invariably are in search of a good story. They want to be entertained by the written word. Shallow characters, inadequate descriptive passages, choppy or overly verbose dialog, and weak plots won’t attract large numbers of readers or build a fan base.

With regard to the first point, unless the novel falls into the genres of fantasy, horror, or science fiction, the writer has to create a scenario that could be real. Verisimilitude is achieved when the reader suspends disbelief. This means the writer has to fully understand the subject matter about which he or she is writing. There are a limited number of ways to accomplish this. Continue reading “How “Real” Should A Novel Be? by John Wayne Falbey”

On Writing Advice: I Have None

It occurred to me that my three most recent Ed’s Casual Friday posts were all basically “writing advice” things; one about “cinematic” elements, one about naming characters, and one about exposition. Looking back over all three, it struck me that I felt the need to start each with a proviso about my lack of fondness for “how-to” writing advice. The disclaimers went something like this:

Let me first fully acknowledge that I subscribe to the Different Strokes school of literary advice, inasmuch as “What might be right for you, may not be right for some.”
– Book v. Movie, Steel-Cage Death Match, 8/24/12 Continue reading “On Writing Advice: I Have None”