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Welcome to the fifth installment of Year One - you can access the previous entries right here! Last time we talked about the act of writing.  Today I'm going to take a step back... It’s time to write.  And write you must or you won’t have anything to sell.  You already know what you’re going to write and how you’re going to write it. Now it’s time to sit down and pump out that first draft, re-write, publish it, and the whole world will jump all over it when it’s ready. This is where I would insert the record scratch...

Welcome to the fourth installment of Year One - you can access the previous entries right here! There are basically two types of writers when it comes to the approach to getting started. Plotters and Pantsers. Almost everyone falls into one of these categories. Plotters are just what they sound like. They plan out the whole book, often with a lot pre-planning, outlining, and treatments.  The Plotter has the entire book, beat by beat, ready before they ever put the first word down. Pantsers don’t need no stinkin’ plan. A Pantser will take an idea or a character and simply...

Welcome to the third installment of what I did on my summer vacation… errr, uhhh, make that my blog series Year One, or what I learned in my first year of publishing! You can find the previous installments here: Year One: Part One – Introduction Year One: Part Two – Why I Write This week I’d like to discuss choosing what to write. This one is really tough for me. A lot of people will tell you to write what you know. This is good advice, but not necessarily the only option. Yes, it absolutely makes it easier to write...

Writers Write, it’s what they do… I learned a long time ago, there’s no such thing as an aspiring writer. You’re either a writer or you aren’t. This last year has just helped to reinforce that notion. For years I had ideas I’d kick around in my head and always just tell myself I’ll get to them someday, but I wasn’t getting to them and something was definitely missing from my life. There are a number of reasons someone might write: school, a job, for pleasure, for money, but for some of us, it’s a compulsion. I’ve been writing since...

Last week, I alluded to the idea that I was going to start talking about what I’ve learned from my first year of self-publishing my work. I’m not going to pretend like I’m close to having this whole publishing and marketing game down, but I’m definitely out there giving it the old college try. In just one short year, that has freakin’ flown by, I’ve learned so much. Like the fact that I should have started marketing and building an audience waaaaaay before I ever hit the publish button. But you live and learn and (hopefully) don’t repeat your mistakes...