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  My name is Derek, which means “leader of the people.” My sister’s name is “Terra” which means earth. Both names reflect our parents’ backgrounds, ethnicity, and popular names of the time period. When you’re choosing character names for your novel, you can pretend you’re planning out the future lives and success of your children (you are, in a sense!). …

Preparing for Nanowrimo 2011, I’ve been reading Alan Watt’s The 90 Day Novel: Unlock the Story Within. I love it. Alan coaches you on how to relax and get the work done. Here are a few of the most important tips if you’ve been wanting to write a novel but can’t seem to find time. 1) Have a plan Writing a …

A novel, any novel, thrives on conflict, resolution and change. You need to show readers what’s at stake, then allow it to happen. Show the characters worrying and trying to prevent things – then always let those things happen. Everything the character does makes things worse. There is conflict on every page that is believable (characters have a real motivation …

All good books start with a murder. While that probably isn’t the golden rule of writing, for many types of novel, beginning with murder, death or at least the threat of it is a must. In a mystery, the murder happens first and the detectives have to sort it out. In a thriller, the murder is what starts the plot …

Maybe you’ve done your research and have decided that to give your book a fair shot in the competition against mainstream published books, you need to use a distributor like Lightning Source. If so, here are some tips to help you set up! 1) Make sure all your files are perfect, unimpeachable, eternal. Unfortunately, unlike Createspace where you can keep …

Recently I read John Locke’s kindle book, “How I sold 1 million ebooks in 5 months.” It’s well worth reading so you should check it out. Locke reveals exactly what his title promises. A few of my favorite tips are below: 1) You need to have more than one book. A complex marketing strategy to promote yourself won’t be as …

I put out my self published non-fiction research book about a year ago. I did almost everything wrong. I’m starting to come to grips with what I should have done, which I’ve arranged in the following 3-step plan for those who can benefit from my mistakes.   1) Distribution. The book has to be OUT there, easy for people to …

About six months ago, I finished my book “Jesus Potter Harry Christ” and was hungry for reviews. The first thing I did was send out a chain letter to about a thousand blogs I thought might be interested in it. I even sweetened the deal with cash prizes. Feedback: a few of those sites contacted me, but only a handful. …

Update! After posting this, I got distracted and added a “maintenance mode” plugin in for several months, which resulted in PR going back down to zero. Lesson learned. Sometime today or yesterday Google updated its PR database. “Pagerank” is a somewhat nebulous term that seems to refer to how “popular” your site is – how many people are linking to …

There are two types of people in the world, and only one of them are successful. The Dalis are brazen self-promoters and headline grabbers. They are invincible in their self-confidence, creative and crazy in their media-friendliness, daring in their publicity stunts. The Van Goghs are quietly reflective, they ask people for favors, they are patient and sensitive, they trust other …