Today I’m playing with midjourney for character and book cover design. You’ve probably seen people posting these to Facebook: what you get is extremely high quality concept art – nearly as good as you might expect to pay thousands of dollars for from a digital artist. But they’re made by robots, generate instantly, and...
This news has been making the rounds: a new reality show for writers called “America’s Next Great Author.” Casting calls are in San Francisco, on October 22, 2022. So far from my author friends, it’s been panned as exploitive: a cash grab for great IP or creative content (the fine print on the deal isn’t The 3...
This week I’ve finally been playing with text-to-image AI generators, and it’s been fun. Stunned by the creative artwork some of my facebook friends are creating, I wanted to get on board fast. I’ve been a book cover design and graphic artist for years, so I know my way around Photoshop. Ultimately I gave up The 3 secrets...
Journaling is one of those activities that plenty of people around the world turn to as a way to work out personal problems. It’s a method of self-discovery and working towards personal growth. But did you know that journaling can also be used to effectively boost your business prowess? It’s an ideal habit to form The 3 secrets to book...
I spent today writing four new articles about book marketing and making videos to go with them; I posted them over at marketing for writers but since it’s a new site, it doesn’t get any traffic yet… so I’m posting the links and videos here so you can read them. These are long, in-depth posts. How The 3 secrets to book...
When I was young, I couldn’t hold a pencil “the right way.” It became a challenge every year for my new teachers, until I was 12 or so. They would try various discipline or mechanical measures (rewards, punishments, or little rubber grips that made it much more difficult and uncomfortable to hold a pencil the The 3 secrets...
So you want to be a writer and create content for a consumer niche in your field… writing blog articles with a reputable company. Great – should be easy right? I mean, you’re looking for an unpaid internship just to get your foot in the door; you’re willing to work for free for goodness sake. The 3 secrets to book...
I love occasionally reviewing movies when they talk about creative or artistic themes. Generally, they romanticize the art and increase the conflict, by repeating harmful stereotypes. People – and most wannabe authors – *love* this stuff because it feels inspiring and reinforces their preexisting convictions. But that’s why...
Recently I’ve been updating and bundling some of my book marketing resources, and I was sure I’d already posted this but can’t find it on my blog. So here it is: If you want to write an email autoresponder/”welcome series” newsletter and need a specific plan and timeline to follow, this should help. I recommend...
While I can only speak of my own experience, it’s not difficult to recognize that many famous creative people were up late “burning the midnight oil.” We can speculate this is because the peace and quiet allows them to fully drink from the solemn well of inspiration. Night is certainly more novel and less profane The 3...
Today I’m celebrating Chinese New Year’s at my inlaws, eating chicken soup and shrimp on the family farm, feeding wild birds. It’s the year of the tiger: a year for bold risks and action. So I was tickled to find this gem of an anecdote about Dostoevsky, one of my favorite authors: After he lost The 3 secrets to book...
“Blood came into question when strange tattoos appeared on his skin… and then there are these lips! Like nothing you’ve ever seen or felt before – until they’re pressed against yours in moonlight shadows by lovers’ fingertips eager for secrets never told.” -this sample was written by a robot…...
