Yes, writing a great book people read is marketing, too
Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're not too cool for marketing just because you "only wanna write the next book". You just love a different kind of marketing.
Always sell the transformation
No wonder everyone hates sales and marketing. The ways writers think about self promotion is deeply flawed. I would hate it if I did it their way, too.
Down and dirty character tricks
I don’t talk about craft much, but I’ve written over 40 novels, plus produced over 1,000 pages of comics, so I do understand a lot about story.
It’s a good time to be a ghost(writer)
While it's harder than ever to land a publishing deal and the whole industry teeters on the brink, it might be a good time to consider becoming a ghostwriter.
How to form strong strategic partnerships in publishing
My motto is "do cool things with cool people" but what does that mean in practice?
The era of rapid trend cycles in publishing
AI's Impact on rapid releasing, a decreased ability to find category arbitrage, and the shift in the balance of Author Ecosystems dominance in publishing.
Tana French's In The Woods and the allure of damaged characters
Messy relationships are my jam thanks to the author's Dublin Murder Squad series.
Should you "write short"?
Ever since I joined Substack, the best practice I have heard was to “write short”. It started as shorter than 1,500 words, and then it reduced to 800-1,100 words. Is that good advice, though?
Creating a sustainable Substack content plan that doesn’t take up a ton of time
You made some awesome content on Substack, now it's time to maximize.
Fighting the Green-Eyed Monster
Bear with me. I promise that this story of teenage angst has plenty to do with both writing and jealousy.
The Revenge Trope: Tightening the Ties that Bind in John Wick
A detailed look at the first twenty nine minutes of John Wick (2014).
How to compile your blog into a book
I’ve released multiple solo nonfiction books up to this point in my career and most of them were compiled almost exclusively or primarily through repurposing blog articles and Facebook posts.
Objectively good and subjectively your jam...
People ask me often how I get over bad reviews and keep going even when people are unimaginably cruel. It all goes back to a simple parsing of semantics we aren't taught in school.
Writing doesn't follow a path
Life happens and learning to accept that can sometimes turn a disaster into something even better. This is true of our writing as well.
Selling one million books with international bestselling author Jodi Taylor
Jodi Taylor is the author of the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary’s series, the story of a bunch of disaster-prone historians who investigate major historical events in contemporary time.
Creating Accessible Content: Don’t Miss Out on Connecting with Your Audience
Seven Tips to Get You Started
DAMSEL: Movie vs. Book
Why the novel and Netflix film are so similar, yet so very different
How I Accidentally Published an Activity Book For Kids
(Or, How I Learned I Am More Capable of This Writing Thing Than I Gave Myself Credit For)
Find your writing peers
How to overcome our imposter syndrome and fears to find other writers who support us without collapsing into a ball of anxiety.
The domestic maid trope in The Housemaid
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden has been burning up the thriller charts on vendors for the last few years. What can it teach us about tropes, though?
Empower vulnerability with your audience
What does it mean to be truly vulnerable? Today's newsletter is about the moment I opened up about the one thing I had always felt so ashamed about.
What I Would Tell My Younger Self
About halfway through my first year as a yearbook adviser, I got a sinking sense of loss: why hadn’t