Public Content

There are bits of advice scattered all over the internet on how to write a book, how to market it, how to outline, how to write a great ending, beginning, middle. But that’s exactly what it is: scattered. Seeing writing, publishing, and marketing a book as a linear process will help you to do everything in the right order without missing a step — and that is something I don’t see anywhere else. I would love to tell how to do every step in this one article, but that would take, well, an entire website. But seeing the steps will help …

Why do you want to sell your book? Is it to make money? Or is it to be validated as an author? (Hint: there is no wrong answer.) I was a traditional author. Published nine novels through houses of varying sizes, from the Big Five to small presses and a few in between. Even won an award. But I left it behind to self-publish. Why? There were a lot of factors involved, but what it mostly came down to was control. In traditional publishing, I had no control. Publishers told me whether the book would be published or not. Editors …

We talk a lot about the hard work involved in becoming a self-published author, but the real answer to this question is an enthusiastic “Hell, yes!” If you follow the paths we’ve created, spend the time learning how the system works, and work hard, it is absolutely possible to quit your day job and make real money as a writer.  Self-publishing got a bad rap, because for many years it was almost impossible to make a profit as a self-published author. You had to buy a print run of books — expensive! — and then find ways to sell them. …

Thrillers are about tension and movement, long odds and fighting to overcome them, and a hero so brilliant and determined that they win anyway. They may have to make a big sacrifice, but in the end the hero saves the world.  Thrillers are usually written in third person, specifically, in third person limited. It’s a visceral genre, so first person is good, too, but thrillers often feature complex and/or convoluted plots that need several viewpoint characters to work. For first person, make sure your plot is on the simpler side, the twist demands the reader not know anything that the …