Short answer: Yes, for now. Content respinners, rewording tools and sentence rephrasers have been around for a long time. It was a way for black-hat SEO gurus to steal content and make it unique enough to still rank in google So why is Quillbot blowing up right now? AI Writing Tools are brand new and The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a...
“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…...
I’ve seen this question pop up a few times, as well as some answers I don’t agree with. The main presumption seems to be this: that people with ADD can’t sit still and focus on ONE BIG PROJECT, which puts us at a disadvantage. I’ve seen some authors say this is why they can’t plan The 3 secrets to book...
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...
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...
FIRST CHAPTER MISTAKES What follows are some insights I’ve collected, after providing feedback on hundreds of first drafts. I’ve tried to only share general examples that I notice frequently in the majority of inexperienced manuscripts. There is nothing implicitly or inherently wrong with any of these: they are simple, common...
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...
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...
Nanowrimo is just around the corner: here’s a brief getting started video with links to my best writing and publishing resources. Start with this: It’s a “Defense of #amwriting” and explanation of my #amwriting tattoo. Basically, Nanowrimo is worth doing for experience; writing quickly and writing a lot is the best way...
I’ve put a lot of effort into plot outlines and templates for writing fiction, but the deeper stuff is sometimes trickier to convey. After all, you can have a brilliant outline that still fails to generate any interest. Intrigue is about delayed gratification which means, information management: not giving away important reveals too...
I saw a post online recently from a 23-year old author who was already worried that they were somehow “too late” to publish or get a publishing deal. I also received a lovely email from a 73-year old who is finally seeing some progress and success. I wanted to share it with you, hence this The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a...
Today on Reddit I saw a post from a young author who felt unsupported. He was seeking someone to edit his book for free, or give feedback or commentary. I’m sharing my response because I truly sympathize: writing can be hard and isolating. And getting real feedback from a developmental editor is expensive. I charge $5K+ for editing and...
