There’s this idea in publishing that you have to be lucky to become successful, and I think that’s true. There are so many factors beyond the control of the author. There are really good books that never find their readership. There are mediocre books that definitely do (and no, I’m not going to name them....

I was chatting with a a group of writers the other day when Sunyi Dean, asked a question about beta readers, and if people used fewer beta readers now than they did earlier in their career. I do use fewer, and it got me thinking about why–and I’ll talk about that. But it, along with...

I’m behind on my novel. Let me clarify that. I’m behind where I want to be on my novel–where I need to be to reasonably make my deadline. So let’s take a look at how I got here. Despite 2020 being what it was, I had a pretty good second half of the year writing....

I really hate posts that suggest that all writers do <fill in the blank.> Especially when there’s some sort of implication that if you *don’t* do that thing, then you’re not a *real* writer. But if you asked me to name one thing that I see from most writers, it’s that they all deal with...

A topic that I see come up a lot but that maybe doesn’t get enough attention is setting goals. After all, we talk about it all the time, right? Life goals. That’s the goal. But when asked to define what our goals are, it gets a little murkier. There are of course the standard goals. I’m...

I got a DM from a writer friend yesterday that began ‘Got my first form rejection. Stung less than I expected…’ This has happened, in one form or another, many times in conversations with other writers. It’s a specific person in this case, but it could have come from just about anybody. Because everybody is...

There’s a tendency as a writer to look on the negative side of things. Wait…is that just me? If it is, then disregard this whole thing. But on the off chance that somebody else feels this, let me continue. I get it. It’s a negative business. Even the most successful authors have seen far more...