Starting out as an independent author publishing her own books, I quickly came to realize how important reviews are to attracting more readers.
One learns fast. MUST. GET. REVIEWS.
If a potential reader happens upon your book and sees it has no ratings […]
I almost feel guilty for using the amazing Pando quaking aspen forest in central Utah as a setting for a horror story.
All those pictures of your massive single root system not only stuck with me for years […]
As a new indie author, I’m acutely aware of the importance of book reviews. They help convince readers to read the story and, more generally, help promote the book.
But here’s the thing. There are lots of people like me who read and love lots of books, yet rarely leave a […]
For published or unpublished authors it can really be a challenge to obtain book reviews—you know those darling little things with stars and someone’s […]
Okay, as an indie author I knew to pick two categories for my book published on Amazon. I did not know it was possible to choose more specific subcategories.
To this, I credit a chapter in, “How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon,” by Penny […]
I am spectacularly bad at this.
First off, I think too literally. Like, my story has a feisty young woman, so we should see her on the cover! Or the novel is set in a dusty, rural area seventy years ago, so maybe a sepia tone might help […]
Epiphany. Simply putting up a novel on Kindle—one that I slaved over—will not cut it. It will not magically get attention or sell.
It’s time to get serious.
By this, I mean really and truly investing. This means doing more research than I thought necessary to launch a book […]
While plotting out my YA supernatural mystery Box in The Cuts, I immediately ran into a challenge. How to tell the backstory of the creepy old mansion at the center of the novel. And then I remembered the convention Bram Stoker used in Dracula. A combination of short diary […]
A long time ago, I had a blog about dealing with narcissistic parents. I had no idea so many people experienced the same thing I did.
My self-absorbed mother became increasingly controlling when I entered my teen years. A psychiatrist diagnosed my father with full-blown narcissistic personality disorder. Both parents suffered […]
