Books Are Not Head Movies

Books Are Not Head Movies

A number of readers have asked me to explain my frequent editing advice against writing by playing a movie in your head and transcribing what you see. To complement the inherent advantages the novel has over film as a storytelling form, here are a few proscriptive reasons to avoid approaching novel…
November 27, 201920 Comments
Mecha, Character and Mecha Characters

Mecha, Character and Mecha Characters

One of the unique challenges of writing a mech series is figuring out how to balance your mechs and your human characters. I don't mean that in a pen and paper role-playing game way. I'm talking about balancing reader expectations and the needs of the story. When you're writing a…
September 9, 201910 Comments
B&N: Rising from the Ashes?

B&N: Rising from the Ashes?

In a surprise twist I certainly didn't see coming, Barnes and Noble's new owners may have taken the only action that might just save the teetering brick and mortar bookseller chain from oblivion. In 2018, it seemed like the days of the United States’ last major bookstore chain were numbered.…
September 6, 201919 Comments
Hecklers vs Critics

Hecklers vs Critics

I've been getting a lot of requests for writing advice lately. Knowing how to recognize and take constructive criticism is among the most important skills a writer can master, so I've dug this post out of the vaults. Writers tend to be introverts. Most of us also crave external validation.…
July 11, 20192 Comments
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