The Perils of the Self-Employed Writer
I read a quote today from Norman Mailer: “Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.” It resonated with me for two reasons. One, I’m a smidge insecure about my status as a Real...
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Copyright and the Self-Published Author
I’ve written about copyright and rights management before (here and here), but in light of a recent self-publishing kerfuffle, I wanted to revisit the issue. Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play...
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Dealing With a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Review
Image Credit: Nathan Bransford’s most excellent blog. Click on Oscar to visit. You think it will never happen to you. Sure, you understand in some abstract sense that every writer gets bad reviews. But...
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The Best Creative Writing Software
For a very long time, my only creative writing tools were a composition notebook and Microsoft Word. The vast majority of my work, from one-act plays to short stories to entire novels, has been written...
View ArticleDo Used eBooks Spell Doom for Indie Authors?
On Twitter today, Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill shared this piece from PBS about the potential impact of used eBooks. Writers John Scalzi and Ayalet Waldman are both concerned about how used eBooks will...
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Should Writers Review Books?
Brother Andre’s manuscripts suck! Seriously, like don’t even bother buying his gospels. A monkey could have illuminated that shit. Should writers review books? The short answer: No. I’ve been...
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Kickstart My Art
First, some housekeeping: You may have noticed that things look slightly different around here. I moved the site from wordpress.com to self-hosting yesterday. Although I was able to keep the posts and...
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The Politics of Pen Names
Whenever I pick up a book by an unfamiliar author, I always flip to the back to check them out. I like to see the photo and read the bio; it gives me a better sense of what I’m getting into. (Knowing...
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Thoughts on Being a Hybrid Author
Now you can have your cake and eat it, too! Unless you’re playing portal, in which case I’m sorry to tell you that the cake is a lie. It seems as if writers today must make a choice: will you follow...
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Discover Indie Authors (Plus Free Stuff!)
Ahoy, readers! This is an extra special day at Girl None Headquarters. Today is the Discover Indie Authors Blog Hop! Have You Hugged an Indie Author Today? Here are three ways you can support your...
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A Domain of One’s Own
Every writer needs a website. This is non-negotiable, and especially critical for indie authors. Even if you don’t have web design expertise (or a publishing house willing to build a snazzy site for...
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Learning From eBook Returns
It is so frustrating to check my KDP dashboard and see a sale…only to find that the eBook has been “returned.” Barnes and Noble doesn’t accept returns. Neither does Apple’s iBookstore. Amazon’s...
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The Problem With Counting Words
I’ve been trying to write three thousand words a day. My book chapters and short stories tend to be in the 3-4K (although some stories can run as long as 8K), so you’d think that I’d be cranking out at...
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Heinlein’s Revised Rules for Indie Writers
Author, visionary, and snazzy dresser. Robert A. Heinlein was an incredibly prolific writer who, along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, was one of the great 20th century science fiction...
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The Indie MFA
Well, it’s official. I won’t be going to grad school in the fall. I’m trying to be classy and mature and professional about it, but it smarts. The schools I applied to–UC Irvine, Syracuse University,...
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A Step-by-Step Guide to the Publishing Process
I’ve been doing a lot of freelancing lately, and I’ve noticed a fair bit of confusion over how books are actually created. Clients wanted to hire an editor or book designer at the wrong point in the...
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Best Practices for Breaking Your Book into Chapters
From Tuesday to Friday (5/29-5/31), the eBook edition of Grey Magic will be FREE on Amazon. If you’re a fan of fantasy, magic, romance, friendship, and talking cats, then you’ll love this book. When...
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Author Solutions Continues to Move Toward World Domination
Independent blogger and writer David Gaughran isn’t afraid to report on Author Solutions’ shady business practices. In his most recent post, he points out once again that the emperor has no clothes,...
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