The Melon Head Mayhem author tells us why he decided to become a writer, what happened after he started reading Stephen King, and why expanding a short story into a Killer VHS novella was one of the best decisions he ever made…
When you sign with an indie publisher, you get a lot of benefits that traditionally published authors may have to give up. Input into cover design, for example, as well as the opportunity to experiment with different types of marketing and promotion…
Some people judge books by their covers. I like to judge a book by its first three paragraphs. The opening sentences of a story tell you a lot about the experience you’re likely to have with the book—and since many readers turn to books to find specific experiences, skillful writers often use their first paragraphs to let their readers know exactly what kind of experience to expect…
I email other writers a lot—and, believe it or not, most of them write back. I could drop some of the names that are now saved in my contacts list, many of which you may have heard of, but that would be both inappropriate and indiscreet…
Rip ‘em apart and steal what you learn! If you want to become a better writer, you have to know how stories work—and if you want to write like your favorite authors, you have to know how their stories work…
I use what I learned, during those early days—not the tricks, necessarily, but the tips—to maintain a relatively consistent 1,000-word-per-hour output. Day in, day out. Here’s how I do it—and how you can, too…
I’ve written novels before. I’ve even written sequels. But this is my first time writing a series. My first time writing a collection of novels, with a cast of compelling and recurring characters, that can either stand alone or be read in sequence…
Every November, this popular global writing challenge brings forth a season that writers everywhere simultaneously hold dear and dread. It is as much a time of creativity and perseverance as it is the worst fucking thing we do to ourselves each year…
Up until now, we’ve been talking about the past. The only thing constant, of course, is change, so let’s talk about the current state of writing, and publishing. EBooks are fully established. Independent and self-publishing are an integral part of the book world…
Before the actual crash of the midlist, the Internet was truly coming into its own. Online communities popped up everywhere. Smaller websites were able to code, or borrow code, to create message boards for groups of like-minded fans and authors…
The basic structure of publishing, with much groaning and stretching, has shifted in ways that render it barely recognizable to those of us who were around during its earlier iterations…
