Yes, Fire Your Agent

Yes, Fire Your Agent

For any authors who didn't think I was serious last time, a reader provides another case study in why you need to fire your literary agent. Or better yet, never hire one in the first place. We push forward a decade to 2002 when I have sold my own dramatic…
March 20, 201911 Comments
Amazon: The Tiger Strikes

Amazon: The Tiger Strikes

Since the launch of the Kindle and KDP, we've had doomsayers--mostly tradpub authors, editors, and agents--prophesying Amazon's imminent descent into tyranny. Most forecasts of impending woe were founded on the premise that Amazon is a monopoly, and as such would impose draconian royalty terms on authors as soon as the…
September 11, 20189 Comments
A Detailed Road Map

A Detailed Road Map

A reader writes: Say Mr. Niemeier, when you write a multi-book saga like say the Soul Cycle, do you just write it out book by book or do you have a detailed kind of road-map before you put pen to paper? I answer: I outline extensively. For the Soul Cycle…
August 9, 20188 Comments
Ophian Rising Casting Call

Ophian Rising Casting Call

Now that the startling conclusion to the Soul Cycle has been out for a while--and none of you have an excuse for not having finished reading it yet--it's high time I followed up on the fantasy cast lists I compiled for Nethereal, Souldancer, and The Secret Kings with a casting call…
July 11, 20182 Comments
Fire Your Agent

Fire Your Agent

Galaxy's Edge co-author Nick Cole forwards a dire warning to authors from Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Here's KKR: The news broke publicly over the holiday weekend. If you blinked, you missed it. The bookkeeper for a prestigious New York literary agency pled guilty to embezzling millions from the agency, leaving the agency…
June 1, 201812 Comments
Amazon Ghettos

Amazon Ghettos

Following my recent posts about how the fundamental realities of publishing have changed in the new Amazon/indie-dominated landscape, a reader passed along a number of eye-opening revelations about how authors and publishers are unintentionally consigning their books to "Amazon Ghettos". The Amazon sleuth explains: Amazon’s algorithm is set up to…
December 13, 201714 Comments
Indie Pub Eras

Indie Pub Eras

The world of indie publishing is a dynamic market that has undergone dramatic change in a remarkably short time. To better understand this rapidly evolving industry, it behooves us to take a look back at the stages of indie pub's development. Pre-Kindle Before Amazon's introduction of the Kindle eReader, traditional…
November 28, 201712 Comments
Cult of Worlds

Cult of Worlds

Recently on Google+, Nathan Housley pondered whether science fiction authors should stop thinking of science fiction fans as their target audience and focus on making fans of their secondary worlds. Here's Nathan: Between the current trends of science fiction marketing and that games audience link, I'm beginning to think that…
October 19, 201717 Comments
The Currentest of Years

The Currentest of Years

Dragon Award loser John Scalzi has come down with writer's block. The cause of the Tor author's affliction? President Donald Trump and the weather: I started Head On in January with the plan to be done in the first half of the year, to leave the rest of the year…
October 3, 201781 Comments
Casting Call: The Secret Kings

Casting Call: The Secret Kings

Every author daydreams about casting hypothetical movie versions of his books. Today I present to you my preferred cast for 2017 Dragon Award finalist The Secret Kings. Note: this list will only cover characters who are new to this book or who haven't been cast before. Actors already chosen for…
September 13, 2017