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4 VITAL Things To Know As An Indie Author (The Emotional Rollercoaster, part 2)

  If you wrote a book and published it, congratulations! You’re a small business owner, and entrepreneur. A budding capitalist.   You write your product. That’s cool!   Then, you sell your product.   So… you’re a salesperson.   Ugh. Most of you NEVER wanted to be salespeople.   Your book/books are your business, and […]

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3 Tips To Getting Over Your Holiday Writing Hurdles (The Emotional Rollercoaster, part 1)

  I expected to get a ton of writing done at Christmas last year. NOTHING got done!     NOTHING!!!     Writer’s slump? Maybe.   Don’t you HATE it when the words aren’t flowing, or you can’t get motivated to write? Or other writing related hurdles?   The thing is, it passes.   Think […]

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Yes, BLOG! What New Authors Need To Know About Building A Platform

Occasionally a new author will write me with a question or problem and I’ll answer it here so we can all learn.   Dear Dan, I went to a writers’ conference last weekend (which was kind of intimidating) but I learned a lot about writing technique and learned some things about myself. I’m not a […]

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I Can’t Finish My Story! Failure To Launch, a (common) writer nightmare

Occasionally a writer reaches out and laments about a writerly problem. Here’s one I received recently that I think is fairly common. . Dear Dan, I recently realized that my writing has slowed to a standstill, not because I’m busy, but because I’m terrified to finish. Help. Scared Storyteller . Dear Storyteller, It’s not uncommon […]

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FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: PLOT POINT

If you wanna get right to the challenge skip down to “FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE!” and champagne Leo. . As most of you know, plots are either very easy or very hard. You take a trip to Italy and see a girl on a train? Bingo! Three months and 100,000 words later you’ve written a Pulitzer […]

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Endurance: Don’t Quit =/= Never Take Breaks

A critique partner and friend recently noted that I’m looking even more prolific the past few days, putting out a few chapters of my story for inquiring eyes at the critique website. Kinda sorta. Now, you know I am a BIG advocate of WRITE EVERY DAY, but I recognized something that you need to know […]

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New Author Interview: Jaye Marie, a NaNoWriMo Success Story

When I was a brand new writer, I didn’t worry too much about how to write a story or what the process was. I just was relating funny stories about first-time parents with a new baby in the house. A lot of sleep deprived people could relate to that, so it transitioned pretty easily into […]

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What the HECK is a Virtual Assistant???

I know people who use Virtual Assistants and swear by them, and I know a lot of authors who are swamped with trying to run a blog and Twitter and Instagram and Pinterest and Snapchat, etc., and still find time to write – but don’t think they can delegate any of these tasks, and don’t […]

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When Should I Start Publicizing My New Book?

Occasionally I get a question from a fellow author with a problem and I answer it here. Dear Dan, My novel is still in its first draft. It´s long, I still have to finish it, and I write a LOT every day, but there´s still a lot of time before it will be published. Many […]

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Who Should I Read?

We all have our favorite authors (and some of you have read and enjoyed my stuff), but the question is… If we, as authors, are supposed to “read a lot and write a lot” – not necessarily in that order – to improve our craft, then it stands to reason we should be, well… Reading. […]