Work-a-Weapon 1

Work-a-Weapon 1

Having read author JD Cowan's post about the back-to-back paradigm shifts that have upended legacy publishing, it occurred to me that most of the discussion surrounding previous book industry revolutions focused on authors and publishers. Lost in all the controversy was any thought of how the fall of oldpub -…
November 10, 202311 Comments
Pacing Watch

How to Master Pacing

The Burned Book is now funding. Get the highly anticipated dark fantasy before launch, plus a ton of awesome perks. Pledge now. Writing is an art, and like any form of art, it requires skill, practice, and patience. For aspiring writers, one of the most crucial elements to master is…
November 6, 2023
Authors Outpost

On Author’s Outpost

Take even a passing look into the online newpub scene, and you'll find the X threads, Facebook groups, and YouTube chats abuzz with talk of Neopatronage. It's not hard to understand why. Those who've kept even cursory tabs on the state of publishing are aware of two indisputable facts: Amazon…
November 2, 2023
HollywoodInToto

Hollywood In Toto

The Neopatronage concept has been making waves lately. Thanks in large part to a number of high-profile crowdfunders that have buried the needle in newpub circles. Despite the 33% stagflation that's beset most Americans and the mid-October slump that plagues all crowdfunding campaigns, independent creators are finding patrons to back…
October 30, 20234 Comments
Fantasy Genre Setting

Genre vs Setting

Friend of the blog author David V. Stewart's recent stream on speculative fiction settings uncovered a curious phenomenon. It seems a lot of people, even some new authors, have trouble telling the difference between genre vs setting in speculative fiction. It's a worthwhile stream, covering a range of topics from…
October 26, 20232 Comments
Amaranth Angels

Neopatronage Ascendant

Big news broke in the indie comics world this week as the upcoming manga Amaranth Angels met its ambitious funding goal. The brainchild of Ascendant Fiction writer Yakov Merkin and artist Philip San Gaspar, this sci fi adventure features all you could ever want ... Cute girls in space. Watch…
October 20, 20234 Comments
Writing Spiral

Escape the Writing Spiral

Look around the pop culture moonscape, and you'll notice that former titans of entertainment like Lost and A Game of Thrones have become bywords and lolcows - grim warnings to writers about the price of failing to deliver. Everybody says that these shows disappointed viewers because their storylines devolved into…
October 19, 2023
Influence

How to Manage Your Influences

The influences that shape your writing can be a boon and a challenge. Striking the right balance between drawing inspiration from others and staying true to your unique voice is an essential skill for new authors. Let's explore some practical ways to help you manage your influences while writing without…
October 12, 2023
IndieScan 11

Ironage IndieScan

One unexpected but welcome windfall of my recent public commitment to neopatronage is the number of fellow authors who have likewise embraced the concept. Launching my patron pages and my latest crowdfunding campaign has given me the chance to talk with many other authors. Once they understand the new model,…
October 11, 2023
Book Boomerang

The Book Boomerang

What goes around comes around. But somehow, the book boomers didn't see the book boomerang coming. In 2021, avid readers notably increased their reading.  However, in the first six months of 2023, print book sales in the US declined by 2.7% compared to the same period in 2022, decreasing from 363.4 million to 353.5 million.…
October 9, 20238 Comments