What Word Count Is Best for Genre Fiction?

Author Regina ClarkeGuest Post
by Regina Clarke

Knowing if our word count is “right” is an ongoing dilemma for indie writers, and it is something we think about — a lot. So what is the answer? I have spent many weeks studying this, certain there must be a magic formula, but instead I became aware that only two things are necessary to know: Continue reading “What Word Count Is Best for Genre Fiction?”

How Fast Do You Write?

author writing speed stopwatch time-731110_960_720Some of you may remember my post a while back about handwriting my books. It’s a habit that has served me well, and I’ve just finished my fourth book written this way: legal pads and slant-tipped sign pens. I have no way to prove quantitatively that writing this way promotes my creativity, but it would certainly seem to. Never before have I written four books in only thirteen months. But that could be a fluke, right?

When I began this handwriting journey, as soon as I had transcribed the words from the pad to the computer, I tossed the pad into the recycle bin. The text was safely embedded in Word; I didn’t need the handwritten words any more. It was my husband’s idea that I save them. For posterity, he said. Yeah, like anyone’s going to care, I thought, but I did start saving them. Then, with my last book, I got another idea. I wrote down the date I started each pad. I had always taken casual note of how long it took me to write a book, sometimes nine months, sometimes three, but I never clocked it exactly. This time, when I finished the book, I actually figured out the word count of each pad and using the dates, calculated how many words a day I was writing. Continue reading “How Fast Do You Write?”

Reaching Your Author Goals Before 2016

key to success for authors keyboard-621830_640This is crunch time. How are you doing on your 2015 writing and publishing goals? You know what? There’s still time. This is my favorite time of the year to reset the clock and make the final push. Too many times, we plow through the year without reflecting and reassessing what’s ahead. Continue reading “Reaching Your Author Goals Before 2016”

Do What Makes You Money, First!

Your Book … On a Shelf … In a Bookstore

You might think that I’m writing a blog post today … but I’m not. Yeah, yeah, what are these words, right? It’s actually my mind kicking myself in the butt. Every week, we discuss the next latest and greatest; we work toward achieving higher and higher levels with our businesses. What happens if we don’t do that?

Seriously, that’s the point. As we dive into social media marketing each week and promote the you-know-what out of our books, sometimes we have to look back at our businesses.

When I was a sales manager in years past, one of my mantras was, “Do what makes you money, first.” Continue reading “Do What Makes You Money, First!”