Extravagant Fiction

Over at the Castalia House blog, Kevyn Winkless makes a strong case that genres should be thought of as tags; not boxes. None of the common terms for genre are particularly common until science fiction starts to take off in the early 1940s – it sees healthy growth right up until…
March 31, 2017
The Audiobook Talk

The Audiobook Talk

If you're a regular reader here, you know how highly I value my readers. The Big Five publishers treat readers as a captive audience whose tastes they can manipulate. I cherish my readers as the people who enable me to write for a living. When my readers have requests or…
March 13, 20179 Comments
Amazon Draws Genre Lines

Amazon Draws Genre Lines

Amazon has warned romance authors not to list their books in the science fiction, fantasy, or children's categories. I think this is a smart move on Amazon's part, even though I'm notorious for bending genres in my own books. Proponents of the Pulp Revolution who argue that contemporary genre delineations…
March 9, 20177 Comments
MILO Witch Hunt Unmasks Legacy Publishers, Media

MILO Witch Hunt Unmasks Legacy Publishers, Media

Media witch hunt The recent witch hunt against Milo Yiannopoulos offered a valuable insight into how the legacy media, the political establishment, and New York publishers operate and what their real motives are. The elites who run our government, press, and entertainment industries see themselves as better educated, better morally,…
February 21, 20176 Comments
Sensitivity Readers

Sensitivity Readers

Presenting reason number 1,864.979 to abandon the sinking tradpub ship and self-publish: "Sensitivity Readers" (h/t Rawle Nyanzi). Book publishers fearing the backlash from social justice activists are hiring special readers to check the books and flag up racist, sexist and other so-called offensive content before they go to print. “Sensitivity…
February 17, 201712 Comments
Writing Schedule Update

Writing Schedule Update

We're less than a month into the new year, and 2017 is already shaping up to be an even more significant leap forward for my writing career than the admittedly stellar 2016 was. If you've been following this blog or my social media accounts, then you've probably come across hints…
January 26, 201710 Comments

Author Nick Cole on the Importance of Platforms

Nick Cole explains why building an author platform is especially important in this age of SJW disemployment mobs. As writers we're always trying to get people interested in our books. And exposure helps that to happen. Making people aware of your book is key to getting them to actually buy…
January 12, 2017
Slate Ponders Why Broken Clock Is Only Right Twice a Day

Slate Ponders Why Broken Clock Is Only Right Twice a Day

A reader made me aware of Laura Miller's uneasy realization that traditional literary publishers lack the power to confer validation and, increasingly, a subsistence income, on writers. Few connections are more mysterious than the one between writing books and making money. The Christian obligation to instruct the ignorant compels me…
January 12, 20177 Comments
2016: My Year in Self-publishing

2016: My Year in Self-publishing

Thanks to my readers and several new author friends, 2016 was a breakout year for me. Here's a recap. February: Souldancer, Soul Cycle Book II released I'd originally planned to launch the sequel to my debut novel Nethereal in time for Christmas 2015. The release was delayed by about eight…
January 3, 201713 Comments
Making a Living in the Arts Is Fiendishly Hard–By Design

Making a Living in the Arts Is Fiendishly Hard–By Design

Those who follow me here and on social media might be familiar with this graphic: The takeaway is that of the roughly one million American authors, only 2500 earn a full-time income from their writing. A lot of aspiring authors were discouraged by that figure, but it's actually an improvement…
December 30, 20166 Comments