Monthly Archives: August 2020

I’m not sure how much I’ve spent on self-publishing novels, but I’m starting to have a bit more sympathy for writers who would like to get their work out into the world and have limited resources. Everybody makes money in … Continue reading →

Self-appointed pundits on writing (an august fellowship of which I’m a card-carrying member) will often instruct aspiring writers that an info dump is a terrible thing. You’ll be advised to spoon-feed your readers by sprinkling bits of info here and … Continue reading →

Does self-publishing still have the stigma it used to have? Thanks to the digital revolution, it’s certainly easier and less expensive to produce dreadful books than it used to be, so there are a lot more of them. On the … Continue reading →

Thought-provoking questions pop up from time to time in Facebook writers’ groups. The other day someone wondered whether a story should always have some sort of philosophical subtext, or whether it was okay to just tell a story and not … Continue reading →

Not infrequently, I find myself reading fiction penned by aspiring authors. Perhaps “attempting to read” would be a better description of the process — dipping into manuscripts or glancing at Look Inside pages on Amazon, and then suppressing a shudder … Continue reading →

As you’re editing and revising your novel manuscript (and you are editing and revising, aren’t you? if you’re not, we need to talk), one of the most important questions you’ll want to ask yourself is this: When a reader finishes … Continue reading →