Quick Answer Editing a book takes five passes: developmental, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, and formatting check. (Updated May 2026.) I made a short video series about my editing and revision process but never added it to my blog, so here it is: The 5 stages of self editing Once I’m done with a first
For years I’ve been wishing for some kind of automated, daily accountability to keep me inspired and motivated – and I’ve heard a lot of other authors asking for the same thing. The problem is, writing can be a very personal goal, and sometimes it’s hard to self-motivate, especially if nobody else really cares about
We’ve been in Burg Rappottenstein for a few days and we love it. It’s an enormous 12th century fortress; it’s comfortable and we’re all getting a lot of writing done. We’ll make a video soon and will share it with the #nanowrimo community, but for now here are some pictures and an introduction to my
Quick Answer Pronoun shut down in 2018 because free book distribution is not a viable business — here’s what replaced it. (Updated May 2026.) What’s Pronoun and what does it matter? Today was supposed to be the day I share testimonials from students and start wrapping up my course launch – but instead it’s...
It’s almost November, which means Nanowrimo (national novel writing month) is coming. The rules are simple – start and finish 50,000 words of a new project in 30 days. Although it’s supposed to be fiction, many people use the momentum for non-fiction or to edit previous projects. As I mentioned in this article I wrote
I recently found out about the “War on #amwriting” while researching for a tattoo befitting someone involved in publishing, that announces to the world what I do. I chose this one… it’s pretentious enough to make me self-conscious until I work my ass off and publish a legacy of books It’s great article, bemoaning the
Nanowrimo is coming! Whether or not you’ve participated before, it’s a wonderful chance to focus on your writing. It’s fun to commit yourself to writing 50,000 words in a month. It proves to you that you can do it, and that writing is just about adding more words everyday. The problem with Nanowrimo is that,
Update – I’m almost done with my first month living in a castle for Nanowrimo. I’ll post a wrap-up soon with what I’ve learned… and I set up a giveaway to get started for next year. >>Sign up here.<< By 2016 I’ll be a full-time author, which means I can finally do Nanowrimo properly,
Just saw this on Twitter: Medium is appealing to Nanowrimo authors to boost traffic. That in itself isn’t a big deal. Around 400,000 writers participated in Nanowrimo this year. That’s an easy, clear target. I appealed to some of the same target with my 30 covers in one day stunt. And we put out a
I wanted to participate in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) so I offered to do some book covers for Nanowrimo authors. Here are the results. I did them all in under one day, so they aren’t my finest work, but some of them are plenty good enough to use. I made duplicates of a few.
I almost, but then didn’t, start writing a novel this November. I’ve got way too much to do. But I did hire two writers to work on my book ideas for me, which is thrilling. And I want to do something fun to participate in the NaNoWrimo movement – which is a huge and
Gearing up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month?) Great! It’s a fun and challenging opportunity to be part of a huge community of writers learning how to complete 50,000 words in one month. If you’re stuck, or can’t seem to finish anything, or always put off writing your book, it’s a great experience. However...
