Why Written Well?
We’re so glad you asked, because we love to talk about what we do here. Our goal is to help aspiring authors navigate the world of self-publishing. To achieve that goal, we offer the information authors need in a complete step-by-step process that is organized and easy to understand. We have everything a self-published author needs to know, all compiled by people who make a living writing.
Let’s go on a quick tour of the site to show you what we have to offer.
Genre Guides
Our Genre Guides are the heart of our site. They are full guides to writing any type of book you want. You’ll learn the tropes you should use, the cliches you should avoid, reader expectations, the best story structures, word counts, cover designs, and anything else you can imagine. Each genre includes subgenres as well, so you can see the differences between urban fantasy and epic fantasy, or hard sci-fi and cyberpunk.
Our members tell us that the genre guides are some of the most valuable information on the site, things they refer to on a regular basis. The guides are thousands of words, along with a few videos and some visual aids, and take you from the very start of finding your preferred genre to how to market and promote the books in genre-specific ways once you’re ready to publish.
Supportive Forums
On our forums you’ll have the chance to join forces with other writers who have the same goals you do. We help each other out and any negativity is banned immediately. This is a friendly place where we all want each other to succeed. Being an independent author will have some ups and downs and having a supportive group that understands what you’re going through can make all the difference.
The Truth About Self-Publishing
While we make sure to provide a supportive and encouraging environment, we’ll never lie to you. Working for yourself as a writer can be hard work, and we won’t sugar coat it. We’ll be there every step of the way and give you all the tools you need to succeed, but we won’t tell you it’s going to be easy.
Advice On The Craft Of Writing
We love the written word. And we want you to write great books. We also know that mediocre books are tough to sell, even if you follow our marketing advice and write them to market (though it’s easier to sell a mediocre book that is targeted and marketed well, than a great book with no promotion behind it).
With that in mind, we’ve penned a host of articles on the craft, from sentence structure all the way to plot arcs and character development. We know writing, and once you absorb the knowledge in our members area, you will too!
Step-By-Step Checklists For Nearly Everything
From outlining a story to setting up a book launch, we have checklists to make sure you don’t miss a thing in the process and get everything done in the right order. Does your thriller have all the important plot points and a ticking clock that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat? Does your book launch include updating the back matter in your other books to include the new one? Did you remember to mention that you appreciate reader reviews at the end of your book to increase your number of reviews on Amazon? Our guides can help with all of it.
Marketing and Promotional Tools
Books aren’t selling?
We will teach you how to market, promote and advertise them.
Books aren’t selling? We’ve got you. With everything from how to build an email list, to launch strategies, to advertising on Amazon and Facebook, we can help give your books the best possible chance to reach thousands of readers and make you enough cash to take some time off to write the next one. We have guides to creating a genre-correct cover or information on where to buy them cheaply, information on how to write an eye-catching blurb, as well as advice on choosing a title. We also have guides to choosing keywords and links to helpful resources to make you a master of the Amazon algorithm.
Software And Tools To Make Your Writing Better, Easier, And Faster
We have comprehensive lists of everything from word processors to grammar checkers and graphic design programs that self-publishers have found work for them. And we’ve reviewed them all and have screenshots and examples of what they’re like, who they will help, and what kind of value they offer. The sheer number of tools is daunting, but we have you covered.
Templates For Plots, Outlines, Chapters, and Storyboards
We don’t think you should just use an “off the rack” book outline, but it can be a big help to see what other authors have done or how typical books in your genre are built. And we know of best-selling authors who use simple 27 chapter spreadsheets or software that helps them build three act story arcs and have great success. See how others have done it before you head off on your own, and learn the rules before you start to break them (which we strongly encourage).
Information On Building A Beta Reader or ARC Team
You may find folks on the forums who want to read your stuff and offer feedback and Amazon reviews—we are all enthusiastic readers after all—but we also have a compendium of sites where you can find beta readers as well as a guide to creating your own personal ARC team.
Everything Else
If a question is common on the forums, we make a guide or write an article so that we can refer people to a complete answer. Which means we’ve already covered most of your questions. From hiring an editor (both how and whether or not you need one), to managing your finances as an author, we’ve done it all and probably written about how we did it.
So, what do you think?
Are you ready to join us and start down the path to making a living as a writer?
Written Well is opening
its doors in April of ’24!
If you have any questions, or want to be notified when the site launches, please fill out the form below.