The Journal: Guest Posting?

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I meant to make this brief * Atticus looks good * Topic: Want to Guest Post? * Of Interest Quote of the Day “If there are only one or two things you can add to your plate this year, make designing and maintaining an online ebook store one of them.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch I meant to make this a brief post again today, mostly because the stuff in the next couple of paragraphs seemed too important to wait for a day when I had more to say. But then I got … Read more

The Journal: Happy February

In today’s Journal * Aggregators (Distributors) and a new resource. * Of Interest Only a very short post today.For some reason I wanted to mark the passing of February 1 or something. Hey, a happy belated welcome to February 2022. Full disclosure, frankly I’m still wondering what happened to 1978. Anyway…. You can still get a PDF copy of my slightly outdated but still very useful book The Essentials of Digital Publishing, a $10 value, free if you email me and ask. The addy is harveystanbrough@gmail.com. Also, you can still get the full PDF searchable archives of this Journal all … Read more

The Journal: Cover Design and Publishing

In today’s Journal * Topic: Cover Design and Publishing * Of Interest Topic: Cover Design and Publishing A writer emailed to ask about cover design. He’s starting from scratch. As I told him, it’s a massive question with several facets. First, you’ll need cover art. Via Dean Wesley Smith, for fiction it’s better to use illustrations than actual photographs. (Perusing the covers of best-selling novels at Amazon or in other venues bears this out.) You can find and download either kind of image at any of several places. My favorite paid sites are Deposit Photos, CanStock Photos, and BigStock Photos. … Read more

The Journal: The Series Bible

In today’s Journal * A great deal of good information * Topic: The Series Bible (and the Reverse Outline) * Of Interest There is a great deal of good information in today’s “Of Interest.” I strongly recommend you get your beverage of choice and settle in to read. You might even want to try a few of the things they recommend in the different articles as you go. Topic: The Series Bible (and the Reverse Outline) One of my favorites in “Of Interest” today is James Scott Bell’s post on the creation and use of a series bible. As some … Read more

The Journal: Rushing This Out

In today’s Journal * The Indie Author Mindset * Something to Bear in Mind * Of Interest Rushing This Out I came to the Journal late this morning. I have a lot about writing to talk about, but that will be for later. For now, for those of you who are interested in marketing, I suggest Adam L Croft’s The Indie Author Mindset and maybe more specifically to marketing, David Gaughran’s book, Amazon Decoded: A Marketing Guide to the Kindle Store. In full disclosure, I have not read either of these books, but both come highly recommended from a trusted … Read more

The Journal: You Can Comment

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * You Can Comment on Journal Posts * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “To be clear, PG isn’t saying that every pirate site for free [or cheap] ebooks is infected with malware, but enough are that it’s a good idea to stay away from all of them….” The Passive Guy “Because it goes to a very fundamental principle of all nations, which is that our borders should be inviolate, and that our sovereignty should be respected.” Jonathan Finer, a White House deputy national-security adviser, on why Americans should care about what’s … Read more

The Journal: Readership and How to Get One

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Today, again * “What it is” * Readership and How to Get One * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Actually, practically nothing is going on.” Kurt Vonnegut “Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.” John le Carre “Film adaptations of books gross 44% more at the U.K. box office and a full 53% more worldwide than films from original screenplays.” Adam Rowe in Forbes magazine “Writing is exactly like having a rare disease.” Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt Today I’m just chatting. Again, … Read more

The Journal: Spreading Yourself Thin?

In today’s Journal * Not Much * Spreading Yourself Thin? * Of Interest Not much of anything today. Mostly I just wanted to touch base and recommend the items listed in “Of Interest.” Dean’s post is time-sensitive if you want to back his current Kickstarter campaign. Spreading Yourself Thin? I also thought I’d share a bit of advice I sent another writer via email this morning. He emailed me to ask whether I thought it was possible for writers to “stretch themselves too thin,” for example writing plays and novels and short stories (not his specific example). No, I don’t. … Read more

The Journal: Some Thoughts on Writing and Writers

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Some Thoughts on Writing and Writers * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Writers, of course, make the worst enemies.” Emily Temple (Appropos of nothing—I just like the quote.) “Writing is a joy. … If it’s not, something is wrong with the process. … For those who are mired in the ‘sweat equity’ of writing, please, for now, consider your approach and your attitude—and try something completely different.” Dan Baldwin in “Sweating Blood And Now For Something Completely Different” Topic: Some Thoughts on Writing and Writers My apology in advance … Read more

The Journal: It’s Much Easier

In today’s Journal * It’s Much Easier * Of Interest It’s Much Easier Over at the Kill Zone Blog a day ago, James Scott Bell posted an interesting question: “Should Writing Be Easy?” Naturally, I commented. Of course writing is easy. You’re sitting alone in a room, making stuff up. What could be easier than that? But I wasn’t quite that flippant in my actual comment. I wrote that, “Writing is easy (and fun!) for those who are able to trust their creative subconscious and not allow the conscious, critical mind to second-guess them and shut them down.” Which of … Read more