How to hire the best story writer for your NFT/crypto game
A few years ago I was in Bali when I got pitched a full-time, $200K/year job in New York managing a creative team to turn a book into a video game. The author had won seed funding and had money to burn, but no idea how to make it work in reality; and he knew The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle tour. Totally free. Get it...
Starting over with nothing at 42
Nearly 2 decades ago, only a few streets over from where I live now in Tainan, Taiwan, I had a panic attack about my future. What will I do when I’m OLD. What am I building and creating that will actually last; rather than all my efforts consumed in fire. I could argue, looking back, The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle...
When and how to include backstory (without boring readers)
I feel like I’ve discussed this ad nauseum, but it was probably tucked into some broader concepts and it’s a HUGE issue. So I wanted to share a very relevant, crucial bit of advice that might make everything easier. What’s backstory? Backstory is usually the deeper, poignant scenes that reveal character motivations. A lot of...
Is an MFA in creative writing worth it? The truth about online writing certificates
Someone asked me this question recently on YouTube: Where do authors go to learn more about story craft? How do we know when we’ve found a reputable teacher? Is it a college degree in English and literature? What is the best way to learn how to piece together a readable story? I’ve gotten similar questions The 3 secrets to book...
Plottr review and novel plotting template (download)
I’ve been hearing more chatter about Plottr, the book-timeline software that helps you map out your novel’s key scenes. A while back someone created a pretty cool template based on my chapter plotting outline, and I’ve been talking with Plottr’s founder to add my template within their tool so everyone can access it. That...
How many pages should a novel have and how many words per chapter.
I see this question a lot so here’s a quick answer: Novels are typically 250 to 350 pages; with about 200 to 300 words per page. This will depend on genre and word count. Average novels are 75K to 95K, though some genres can go longer – still, it’s very rare for a novel to The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted...
My best words come at night (a poem about writing)
Testing out my new theme with this poem I wrote for the preface of Book Craft. Help me test the comments by writing your own poem below! My best words come at night. When soft music is humming and birds or bats are chirping and dusk or dawn is peeking above the horizon. When the The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle tour...
Black Friday deals for writers (huge list: 2021)
It’s nearly the end of a long year. If you weren’t as productive as you wanted to be, don’t worry about it! But now might be a good time to start using the clean slate of a new year to set goals and level up your author career. The good news is, publishing success is The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle...
“The job of a writer is to write” and other delusions
As seen on Reddit, someone brought up this quote from an old Guardian article. I agree in spirit, but not practice, which is interesting enough to reflect on briefly. Here’s the quote: Those who insist that the job of the writer is simply, only, to write are deluding themselves. Editors whose advice is to get The 3 secrets to book...