Blog

How people and artificial intelligence (AI) search the web continues to shift and evolve. Since web searches now weave in AI-driven answers created by large language models (LLMs), the content of your website should be optimized for both traditional search engine optimization (SEO) and the new frontier of building your digital authority—which, for the purpose of this article, I’ll call generati…

What is LitRPG? LitRPG—short for “Literary Role-Playing Game”—is a fantasy and science-fiction subgenre built around worlds governed by explicit game-like mechanics. Characters exist in settings where abilities, power, and progression can be measured, tracked, and often displayed through an in-world interface commonly called “the system.” Unlike stories that merely reference games, LitRPG integ…

The momentum trap As a writer and certified life coach, I’ve seen a pattern—both in my coaching work and in myself—that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. That pattern is what happens to us after we finish “the thing.” My most recent reminder came in late November. I’d been pushing hard, working late nights and early mornings, trying to hit a deadline on a traditionally published book. I p…

I’ve been talking to authors about publishing wide for well over a decade now. I’ve written books about it, spoken about it at conferences around the world, and spent years inside the Kobo and Draft2Digital operations watching how it all works from the inside. And I keep seeing authors making the same mistakes. Authors hear the message about not putting all their eggs in one basket. They agree …

A new wave of ‘gentle fantasy’ is captivating readers who crave wonder without the war The first time I spotted Legends & Lattes at my local bookshop, I experienced a flutter of recognition. Here was a fantasy novel about an orc who retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop. No dark lords. No chosen ones. Just someone building a small business and finding community. As a cozy mystery …

  Have you ever considered changing genres? Or did you try but it turned into an utter non-starter? As I head into my next major genre leap, I asked some fellow jumpers five basic questions about their ideas, successes, and fu—, uh, hard lessons learned. The jumps Some say that writers’ brains are wild, entropy-driven vortices. Based on the jumps these folks have done, that is an accura…