Last night I watched Hell or High Water with my husband and son. I liked it, but they loved it – and in our post-movie discussion, I tried to understand why it hit harder to them than it did me. My husband said something that stuck: “I understood why he did it.” The interesting part […]
I recently ran out of things to say about my book. I was scraping the bottom of the enthusiasm well and didn’t have the energy to write a new tagline, craft a hook, or search for a good excerpt. So I went to Old Faithful: Goodreads. I pulled up my most recent release, filtered to […]
When’s the last time you bought something on Amazon? Did you glance at how many reviews the product had? Did you skip over an item that only had a handful or none at all? According to a 2023 survey by PowerReviews, 93% of consumers say that online reviews affect their purchasing decisions. Book reviews ARE […]
First drafts are too thin in some areas (settings, sensory details, inner narrative, dialogue) and too thick in others. Let’s talk about the other areas – the hidden places weighted down by extra words. When we’re in writing mode, it’s natural to add extra words as we think through the story. We repeat ourselves. We […]
Most indie authors focus all of their efforts on U.S. sales—and understandably so. The American book market is one of the biggest globally generating over $25 billion in sales. But did you know that a huge pool of readers is waiting for your books outside the States? From Canadian romance lovers to Dutch fantasy fans and Australian […]
Writing dialogue is something that a lot of authors struggle with, so I thought I’d share my top tips in hopes that it helps.With dialogue, most trouble comes in three areas: Here’s my best tip for each area. HOW TO TAG YOUR DIALOGUE: Don’t be concerned about using “he said” or “she said”. Said is […]
What makes a reader pick one book over another? For a lot of readers, there’s a giant arrow that points to a book’s purchase button and triggers the sale. That arrow is tropes, and I’m talking about making them clear to the purchaser AND THEN following through on those tropes inside the story. The authors […]
Let’s talk about the roadblock that knocks down even the most seasoned authors… writer’s block. 😱 Sometimes it hits when you’re halfway through a novel. Other times it’s waiting for you on page one. Whenever and wherever it happens, it’s inconvenient and demoralizing. Cue this post! 🛟 Here are six strategies that can help you […]
I was at a birthday party years ago when someone asked me what I did, and I hesitated for a moment. “I’m an author,” I finally said, and there might have been a slight question mark at the end of the sentence. But… WHY did I hesitate? Especially back then! I had recently hit the […]
I was on my third novel when I hit writer’s block for the first time. It came with a vengeance, striking three times before I finally made it to the finish line. I hit a wall… found my footing… hit another wall… clawed my way past it… and then slammed into a third one so […]
