Appeasement Fails

Appeasement Fails

Following Dragon Con's reversal of their initial policy not to allow authors to withdraw from the Dragon Awards ballot, an SF SJW demonstrates the futility of DC's attempt at appeasement. If any Dragon Con organizers are reading this, please read Greg's words closely. Remember: this comment was posted after the award…
August 29, 201772 Comments
Amazon Keywords

Amazon Keywords

Author David J. West, a.k.a. James Alderdice joined Daddy Warpig, Dorrinal, and myself on Geek Gab to discuss his new book BRUTAL and share his Amazon marketing secrets. In this episode, you will learn: How to pick Amazon keywords to successfully market your book Whether indie authors can benefit from…
August 28, 2017
The Secret Kings Is Free on Amazon

The Secret Kings Is Free on Amazon

A lot of aspiring authors ask me how they can beat the odds and find success as professional writers. One piece of advice I always give is to know your reason for writing. Do you have one big story that you're driven to get off your chest and onto the…
August 25, 2017
Reader Mail: Writing Resources

Reader Mail: Writing Resources

A reader writes: I've been reading the exhortations of John C. Wright, Sarah Hoyt, you, and others for some time about the creation of better art; the coining of the term "Superversive" on L. Jagi Lamplighter's blog felt like a much-needed call to rise up from prison.  Indeed, Daddy Warpig's…
August 24, 20172 Comments
Sword and Sorcery

Sword and Sorcery

Today I had the pleasure of chatting with author Howie K. Bentley about sword and sorcery and sword and planet fiction, including his pulpy masterpiece Under a Dim Blue Sun. We also discussed the state of men's SFF and gave some practical writing tips. Hear all this and more on…
August 23, 2017
Clarity over Cleverness

Clarity over Cleverness

Over at the Castalia House blog, Daddy Warpig dispenses some sage and actionable advice for pleasing readers and thereby making a living as an author. Folks, books are a niche market right now. Novels are a niche of a niche, Fantasy & Science Fiction novels a niche of a niche…
August 22, 20176 Comments
Geeking Out

Geeking Out

Over the weekend I appeared on not one, but two geek-related podcasts. Now you can experience the geekery! First up: on the latest episode of Geek Gab, your intrepid hosts discussed author Nick Cole's productivity checklist. Writers, do you find yourselves stuck in a rut or generally procrastinating? There's a…
August 21, 2017
Reader Mail: World Building

Reader Mail: World Building

A reader writes: I recently [read] Cole's article you linked to and I was wondering if you could help me with something. I mean I've been working on a world for awhile now, and I'm uncertain about the first steps I should take about it. Basically, I keep going between…
August 18, 20172 Comments
Get out of Your Way

Get out of Your Way

Best selling author Nick Cole shares some highly profitable productivity tips for authors. This is how you're getting in the way of You the Writer and preventing your success: attempting too much at once unrealistic time estimates procrastinating lack of specific priorities failure to listen well doing it myself--failure to…
August 17, 20171 Comment
Death of the Short Story

Death of the Short Story

Short stories built science fiction into a cultural force to be reckoned with and launched the careers of countless stellar authors. Yet the short fiction market has seen a steep decline in the past few decades. Is the short story dead? Your humble Geek Gab hosts recently spoke with Castalia…
August 16, 2017