Friday Write-Day: Progress on the Non-Writing Front

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I have not made much progress at all this week… for NaNoWriMo. With less than 10,000 words written through 18 days, I think it’s safe to say I will not be hitting 50,000 words, or probably even 30,000.

One reason for the lack of progress on either WoEL or my mythology stories this week has been my general stressing over the details of publication. Up until I printed those manuscripts for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento, publication felt like a far-off dream, attainable yet just out of reach. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: Progress on the Non-Writing Front”

Friday NaNo-Day: Discovering the Discovery Draft

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It has been many long months since I have started a brand new draft with only endless brainwaves to sift through and get onto paper. Why is writing still this hard?! Continue reading “Friday NaNo-Day: Discovering the Discovery Draft”

Marketing Your Novel: Intro to SEO

marketing-your-novel

Disclosure: I work for a marketing firm. While I have no formal education in marketing or business and would never claim to be an “expert”, working in online marketing for two companies over the last  four years has taught me a lot. This series will explore the marketing strategies I will use to promote my upcoming novel.

While I am not going to be talking exclusively about SEO in this series, SEO happens to be one of the major facets of Content Marketing, a larger theory and set of strategies of online marketing. Thus, at least a basic introduction to SEO is necessary. So… Continue reading “Marketing Your Novel: Intro to SEO”

Friday Write-Day: The Joys of World-Building

fwd-joys-of-world-building

My outlining has really taken off in earnest this week. I definitely have some big revisions in mind for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento, and dropping the synopsis on this site a couple days ago was invigorating. However, I’ve decided to let the alpha manuscript of WoEM (mostly) sit tight through National Novel Writing Month so I can focus on other aspects of my grand writing scheme. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: The Joys of World-Building”

Novel Synopsis Announcement!

Okay, I’m ready. After mulling over and sitting on a synopsis for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento forever, I will finally publish it. I definitely wrote this synopsis after I wrote the story, but that was mostly because I began writing with a vague idea of where I was headed. Continue reading “Novel Synopsis Announcement!”

Friday Write-Day: Revisions Beget… NaNoWriMo!

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Another week, another round of pondering. Revisions to The Warden of Everfeld: Memento are coming along. I have about 40 pages to go to complete my first read-through. I’d like to do that by Sunday so I can start gearing up for NaNo 2016. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: Revisions Beget… NaNoWriMo!”

Marketing Your Novel: Types of Indirect and Content Marketing

digital-marketing-1563467_1280

Disclosure: I work for a marketing firm. While I have no formal education in marketing or business and would never claim to be an “expert”, working in online marketing for two companies over the last  four years has taught me a lot. This series will explore the marketing strategies I will use to promote my upcoming novel. Also, I know free stock photos are lame. I’ll get my own legit photo for this series at some point, I promise.

As we move through this series, I’m going to try and tackle each subject in a logical manner, going deeper and deeper into the many topics and subtopics within marketing without jumping around too much. Thus, some of this information may seem repetitive, because we summarized a lot of it in my first post on where to begin with marketing your novel.

Today, we’ll look more closely at indirect marketing, since this type of marketing is more readily available to most writers, through the magic of the internet — and content marketing. Continue reading “Marketing Your Novel: Types of Indirect and Content Marketing”

Friday Write-Day: Top 5 Favorite Books!

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I was prompted earlier this week to post my top five favorite books of all time by Mr. MLS Weech, a real-live published author and blogger-buddy. So props to you sir, for making me want to write about my favorite books! (His blog is full of insightful pieces on the writing and publishing process – check it out.)

Now then, thinking about my favorite books was surprisingly difficult, because my reading preferences tend to fall into three broad and diverse categories: Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: Top 5 Favorite Books!”

What is that Novel Really Worth?

Now that The Warden of Everfeld: Memento is officially past the stage of being just a collection of ideas and dreams locked away in my brain and/or on a flash drive, it’s time to start thinking about it in terms other than its qualitative worth. Yes, I am of course talking about money and its necessary attendants: marketing and business — the collective bane of artistry, creativity, and human-made beauty in the world.

Because when we talk about publishing, that’s really what we mean: the promotion and sale of a piece of work. As writers, we tend to lean on the adage that the writing of a novel is its own reward, and that any material gain that comes of it is a bonus. Luckily, most of us are telling the truth when we say this. Continue reading “What is that Novel Really Worth?”

Book Review: LIONHEART, by Sharon Kay Penman

Lionheart, Sharon Kay Penman - http://www.amazon.com/Lionheart-Novel-Sharon-Kay-Penman/dp/0345517563
Lionheart, Sharon Kay Penman – http://www.amazon.com/Lionheart-Novel-Sharon-Kay-Penman/dp/0345517563

Medieval British History is my wheelhouse. I’m not an expert by any means, but learning about the English royalty is actually what first sparked my academic interest in history during high school. Who was the Black Prince and how did he get such an awesome moniker? How accurate were the popular tales about Richard I’s crusade? I just wanted to learn more, and I did throughout college.

Popular History

One oft-lamented aspect of the field of history by academics is the prevalence of popular history, particularly in film, television, and non/fiction. Popular history tends to take a wide, mass-appeal approach to the telling of history. The argument against these forms of history is that they are often more focused on a gripping narrative than on actual historical accuracy or objectivity. This is undeniable in many such works. Continue reading “Book Review: LIONHEART, by Sharon Kay Penman”