In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Mystery is the catalyst for imagination…. What are stories besides mystery boxes?” Star Wars director J.J. Abrams, in this TED Talk (Not vetted.) “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Mel Brooks The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * What Matters Most in Book Covers * Of Interest What Matters Most in Book Covers Recently I engaged in an interesting discussion regarding my posts on rebranding covers. Here, I’ll give you the bottom line up front: I don’t believe it matters at all whether the author name is at the top of the cover or at the bottom or along one edge. There, I said it. Over the past twelve years, I’ve disagreed with Dean Wesley Smith only twice. This is the second time. But why do I disagree? After all, I very much like the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The First Draft Is the Final Draft * Of Interest Quote of the Day “If you’re going to make a living from this gig, you need to train yourself to be prolific. This takes discipline. You also need to train your brain to write well the first time around. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But you can edit as you go.” Vin Zandri (See the rest in Of Interest) The First Draft Is the Final Draft So says bestselling authors Vin Zandri and Dean Wesley Smith and countless others. And … Read more

In Today’s Journal * From the Kindlepreneur * Of Interest From the Kindlepreneur I received a note from Dave at Kindlepreneur yesterday and thought it might be a great deal for some of you. Thanks to Dave Chesson for the content below: “For years, authors kept asking me the same thing: ‘Dave, can you just walk me through the whole process, start to finish?’ “I heard it so often it started to feel like a running joke. And honestly, the idea used to intimidate me. I’d spent twelve years writing about this stuff, and figuring out how to turn all … Read more

In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Interesting Facts… * Numbers * Release Date * Of Interest My Quote of the Day “Even among those we admire, there are no extraordinary people. But there are some who—even burdened with the same human failings, frailties, and foibles that are common to us all—manage to do extraordinary things.” The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Revamping Finished * Writing Better Fiction Is in Paper * Did You Know? * Of Interest Revamping Finished On Friday I finished uploading all of my 5-story and 10-story collections to my online store, then linked the covers on the publisher site to the store and deleted the individual book pages and 300-size covers from the publisher site. So I’m done with that. And I won’t be updating anymore of my fiction covers, though I might update some sales copy here and there. Writing Better Fiction Is in Paper My friend and TNDJ subscriber Tiffanie Gray … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Revamping My Publisher Site * The Process to Effect This Change * The Upshot * The Wes Crowley Rebrand Revisited * Of Interest Revamping My Publisher Site Yesterday I mentioned the work process involved with rebranding a series. After I posted that update, I started revamping my publisher site. That’s actually more of an evolution than a revamping, and it’s a lot more intensive. But Potential Buyer’s click-through process—from discovering StoneThread Publishing to buying a book—is now streamlined and more user friendly. Previously, the potential buyer’s experience went like this: Potential Buyer finds StoneThread Publishing PB … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Writing Better Fiction, 2nd Edition * Revamping and Republishing Writing Better Fiction, Second Edition The second ebook edition of Writing Better Fiction is available now. If you bought a copy earlier, email me to let me know that and I’ll send you the 2nd edition in PDF. If you’d rather have an .epub or .mobi file, let me know that in your email. In other news, I should be able to release the paper version of the 2nd edition of WBF on July 1. I’ll announce the release here when that happens. Sorry, no freebies on … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * My Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * A Few Thoughts on Apologies * A Few Story Starters * Of Interest Quote of the Day “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.” P.G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories My Quote of the Day “Apology, n. 1. A device intended to soothe wounds and put a potential victim off his guard. 2. A precursor to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Branding and Rebranding * Of Interest Yeah, I know, it’s way late in the day. This post is primarily to pass along the items in Of Interest, at least one of which is time-sensitive. Branding and Rebranding In the increasingly overcrowded world of digital publishing, all the pundits agree that today it’s more important to build a reader base that’s loyal to You (Author Name) and Your Work regardless of genre. Most pundits also agree that you need only 100 (not 1,000 and not a b’jillion) die-hard, dedicated readers who absolutely love your work to make … Read more