Blog

Blogging used to be a popular way to connect with readers and share information about our books. Over time—and with the increased popularity of various social media platforms—blogging has come to be seen as optional, and even outdated. Nonetheless, I believe it’s still a viable option for book promotion. Unless you remove them, blog posts live on your website indefinitely, allowing new visitors…

The beginning is not always the optimal place to start a story. Many authors have found that nonlinear storytelling, with its shifts across time and perspective, can deepen reader engagement and create a more layered narrative experience. Nonlinear novels do not follow events chronologically. Instead, authors may move forward and backward in time or develop parallel timelines that unfold in con…

Estimates vary, but some industry trackers suggest that 5,000–7,000 new books appear on Amazon every day, and a growing number are mass‑produced or algorithmically generated. For working authors, differentiation isn’t just about craft anymore; it’s about visibility, connection, and trust. Author‑entrepreneur Joanna Penn suggests we “double down on being human.” Here are strategies from NIN…

If you’re writing a story, you’ll need secondary characters to flesh out the world you’re building. Otherwise, it’s a pretty dull world. You need sidekicks! Sidekicks are indispensable for asking or answering questions of your heroes. At the very least, they give your main characters someone to interact with. Are there differences between sidekicks, ensembles, and partners? Do you need them if …

“Grief is the ultimate thief of creativity.” —Sweta Vikram According to the Hospice Foundation of America, grief is “a reaction to loss, and like a fingerprint, it is different for everyone.” The anticipation of or death of a loved one or an animal companion, the loss of a relationship, a job, or your independence, perhaps due to injury or illness, may trigger a grief response. Before my friend…

The most important thing we can do as authors is to write the next book. The second most important thing is to let readers know about it. One way to do that is through advertising, but it has become rather expensive in recent years. As costs increased, advertising became a larger line item on my P&L, prompting me to search for ways to promote my books without breaking the bank. So I doubled…