From Our Blog
Generational Cohorts: Applying Gen Z Insights to Your Writing
If your contemporary fiction features teens and young adults, and you’re part of an older generation, you may benefit from insights into Gen Z.
Here, we’ll define current generations (specifically in the U.S.), what makes each unique, and how that can relate to your characters.
As with all generational insights, it’s important not to stereotype, or lump all people within a generation together. …
Growing a Ghostwriting Business
Being a good listener. Keen curiosity. Flexibility. And checking your ego at the door. These are among the qualities that have best served the ghostwriters interviewed for this article.
Ghostwriters create content for others, receiving no credit. Good ghosts are skilled writers who create memoirs, speeches, articles, corporate or family histories, blog posts, or fiction in the voice and vision …
Although often attributed to Winston Churchill, the origin of the phrase “history is written by the victors” is unknown. Nonetheless, the sentiment is true and something to consider when writing about diversity, past and present. It is a fundamental tenant of the mindset one should have when diving into the scholarly record. I wish to take you into my philosophy of how I approach history, peopl…
Beyond the Booksellers: Alternative & Ancillary Ways to Sell Your Books
Most indie authors focus on selling books through the major book distributors. We study ads and agonize over how to get visibility and traction on these sites. We watch our numbers go up and down with pride and alarm.
But, as we’ve been doing that, a few pioneer authors have been forging other paths to readership:
Wattpad
Patreon
Kickstarter
Serial apps
If you find them all tempting, no worri…
Resolutions for Marketing Books in 2023
We made it through 2022! A round of applause and therapeutic chocolate for everyone. Now it’s time to look forward to 2023, and I’ve put together a list of resolutions based on trends I suspect will drive book marketing throughout the new year. Where does this list come from? My own extensive research and experience running a small marketing think tank. I’ve been tracking data and trialing diff…
For the Thrill of It!
Thrillers are the third-ranked fiction genre, according to Bookscan. On the Kindle side, K-lytics ranks “Mystery/Thriller/Suspense” third as well, with thrillers leading the category. As of August 2021, analytics firm The NPD Group, which owns Bookscan, said, “The evergreen staple of summer reading, thrillers make up nearly one in eight adult fiction books sold.”
That said, the market overall s…