Still Holding Hands: A Fictorians Retrospective
In March of 2010 a number of aspiring writers, including myself, attended a seminar that inspired us in ways we’d never expected. I met a number of amazing people at the Superstars Writing Seminar....
View ArticleGetting Noticed
Ever feel like a needle in a haystack? Perhaps more accurate, a needle in a huge pile of other needles. We write, we publish, we go to conventions and yet somehow reaching readers seems to become more...
View ArticleAll About Attitude
A guest post by John D. Payne I was single for a long time, and not by choice. I was sick of dating by the time I was 21, but wasn’t married until 36. It took me 15 years to get noticed at a party by a...
View ArticleConvention Selling Tips
Let me start off with the caveat that I am not an expert merchandiser. Everything I’m going to talk about below comes from a few years of hand-selling my books at conventions. I know people who can do...
View ArticleGetting Noticed
A guest post by Sean Golden. You’ve done it. You’ve finally finished your first novel. After months or years of tears, sweat and blood, your baby is about to meet the world. But if you are...
View ArticleThe Extroverted Introvert – Faking It Until It Becomes Real
All stories require at least two participants: the storyteller and the audience. While this is obvious in the performances of bards, campfire storytellers, and stage actors, I would argue that writers...
View ArticleConnecting
Most of us are not so egocentric that we write strictly for our own pleasure. We want our work to connect to readers. We want to know that we are touching someone; that our work creates a resonance in...
View ArticleMake Friends, Be Useful, Get Noticed!
A guest post by K.J. Russell. The best assets a writer will ever have are their colleagues. Fellow writers, editors, proofreaders and organizers are going to help your writing reach readers in a way...
View ArticleI Hope You Noticed
What are the ways writers get noticed? Good hair, great covers, blind luck? Of course, there’s more to it than that and our posts this month were excellent at showing us the best ways to get our works...
View ArticleFinding Inspiration in the Writing Life
Writing is hard, lonely, and often underappreciated work. Authors spend years, if not decades, practicing and perfecting our craft with the hopes of someday being deemed “publishable.” Each year,...
View ArticleFan to Writer: An Online Meeting with Rowling Herself
A Guest Post by J.J. Bennett Back in 2001, I had knee surgery. Looking back now, I’d say that it changed my life. It was December and a friend suggested I read the Harry Potter books to pass the time...
View ArticleMy Last Thought
A Guest Post by Darin Calhoun April 2002, I was driving to work on the 210 Freeway, just passing Irwindale, when I glanced at my rear view mirror and saw a white, Scully, Semi-Truck. My Last thought...
View ArticleIs Google Play Going Crazy, or is Fate Finally Smiling on Me?
A guest post by Rachel Ann Nunes. So you may have heard about how one of my books was plagiarized and the horrendous costs involved in the litigation to protect my books and myself from harassment. The...
View ArticleMileHiCon: A Denver Gem
A Guest Post by Kevin Ikenberry After I seriously took up writing, the very first con I attended was MileHiCon in 2012. I’d moved to Colorado a couple of years before and while I’d attended the local...
View ArticleNot All Cons are Created Equal
For fans, conventions are all about having fun, meeting people who share your interests, and having a weekend of unbridled and unapologetic geekiness. We gather at convention halls to meet our favorite...
View ArticleThe Savviest Thing I Could Have Done
I’ve been negligent. I like to blame it on the fact that I’m a recluse at heart. But that’s not an excuse—or at least, not a very good one. In the writing game, we authors are frequently called upon to...
View ArticleAd Astra and Can Con
As a Canadian, travelling out of the country to attend cons involves a big trip with advance saving and planning, and most years it’s just not affordable for me to travel internationally. Fortunately,...
View ArticleMy Brief Career as a Ghostwriter
Getting to where I am today has been a long and winding road… and it definitely wended through some unexpected territory. I started writing at the ripe-old age of six, in 1989. My first-ever...
View ArticleGetting Ahead of Deadlines
I have always been a dyed-in-the-wool procrastinator, telling myself that I work best under pressure and that turning around projects at the last minute provides me with valuable motivation. This might...
View ArticleAnd Now for Something Completely Different
When it comes to giving advice regarding plot structure, I have found that most everyone seems to focus on the time from the beginning of the book to the climax. In a way, I completely understand....
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