For the last few years, I've been more productive than I had to be. Since 2018, my singular goal has been to publish a single new book wholly written by myself each year. This means that being in an anthology doesn't count, as the entire project must be something I wrote. However, it also means that compilations of things I've written (like blog posts or short stories) can count as my annual release. There also isn't a length requirement, which is why I count children's picture books and cookbooks as meeting the intent of my goal. Having published not only a 10th Anniversary edition of The Fluxion Trilogy for the last few years (including audiobook versions of these books), but a new book as well, I decided it was time to refocus my efforts for the next few years before I have to put out a 10th Anniversary edition of Fourteener Father in 2028.
The plan for 2024 still has some...
I saw a lot of milestones in 2023. Not only did I publish my 10th book this year, but it also won a major award. This was my 10th year as a Municipal Liaison (ML) for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and my 14th year of participating. I also finished my first trilogy of 10th-anniversary editions, along with audiobook versions of these books. This was also the year I joined the Colorado Author's League which has helped me connect with other writers in my state. Not all the plans I made at the beginning of the year came to fruition, but the beauty of having multiple projects in various stages of planning is that I can pick what I want to work on next. So, while plans change, here is what I actually did this year...
2023 YEAR IN REVIEW
The Third Degree (10th Anniversary and Audiobook versions)
By now, putting together a new version with character sketches (by Robin Childs) and a...
How long does it take you to write 100 words? I'm sure most of us have never sat down and figured this out, even if we've done it many times. Still, if I asked you to write 100 words in 100 minutes, you'd likely say you can easily do that. 10 minutes? Probably more of a challenge, but not impossible. 1 minute? Unlikely—unless you really work at achieving it. As with most things in our lives, we develop an innate understanding of how long something takes the more we do it. We feel frustrated if it takes too long but accomplished if we can do it faster than normal.
The routine becomes subconscious.
A tenet of writerly advice is usually "develop a daily writing habit." Why is this? First, it's practicing something that then becomes easier with each iteration. Whether it's a set number of minutes or words each day, the more times you practice this routine, the better you'll get at...
The biggest lie that has ever been told about books is that you cannot judge them by their cover. This is the first and sometimes only interaction people will have with your book, so you need to be sure that it looks professional. I have seen a lot of self-published covers over the years that leave much to be desired—my own books included. Online cover creators are an easy way to slap something on the book you’ve written, but the design limitations of these tools actually do more harm than spending the money to hire someone to make your cover. All this being said, there are some easy ways you can make your own cover as long as you avoid a few common mistakes.
Fonts Matter.
At a minimum, there should be two boxes of text on your cover: your name and the title of the book. You’d be surprised to see some covers that don’t match the font for these two...
It may come as a surprise that taxes are marginally easier than death when you’re a creative individual. While the latter requires explicit and detailed instructions on what to do upon your passing, the former is something you can control and often doesn’t involve more than a few extra forms when you’re filling out taxes for the year. Still, if you are selling anything that you created, the government will want a cut of that income. The one thing to be careful of here is that often this endeavor is considered a “hobby” instead of a business. If you want this extra income to be a business, it needs to be making a profit on an annual basis for many years. Consider how much you spend on stocking your inventory of products, advertising, and the variety of other costs that contribute to your creativity before determining if you’re even in the black when it comes to your business (which will...
Before the recent birth of my second child, my wife and I were preparing for this new life coming into the world by ensuring that our kids would be financially secure upon both of our deaths. While we’re only in our late-30s, it’s difficult to consider both of us dying unexpectedly in the near future. And yet, we have had close friends who were about our age pass away suddenly this last year, so we know it can happen.
When setting up a will or trust for your next of kin, there are a lot of assets that are easily included in these documents. Houses, investments, retirement accounts, and bank accounts. However, there is one thing a creative person needs to consider when planning for their death: what happens to the rights to their creative works? If you traditionally publish, some of these details may be already covered in your contract. If you self-publish, now might be the time to think about...
Four years ago, I started writing down the projects I planned to accomplish during the year. This accountability was great to keep me on track. There's something about declaring the different goals for the year, especially when you can finish at least a few of them. For 2023, I'm finally reaching the end of some bigger projects I started a few years ago. This means I'm almost free of the obligations I put myself under. With a new infant in the house, it'll be interesting to see how much I can get done this year. Here's what I currently have planned:
Stop Screaming
I've been getting some good feedback on the recipes from my ice cream cookbook, Stop Screaming. I've made some changes to a few of the recipes and how they're collected in the book, so there are only a few left that need testing prior to going live with it sometime this year. Since this is a somewhat smaller passion...
After a few years of the pandemic, 2022 felt like a return to some norms for me. Conventions were back in full swing, and I could engage with a lot more people in person compared to 2020 and 2021. I was still quite busy getting new stories out—as well as providing new forms to classic ones. I expanded my engagement with local stores this year and now have my books available for purchase at Young Bookworms in Colorado Springs, while still continuing my partnership with Sanctuary Inspired Goods in Old Colorado City. In case you missed any of my announcements this year, here's everything I did...
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
Second to None (10th Anniversary and Audiobook versions)
Having completed the 10th Anniversary edition of First Name Basis last year, it was only natural that I continue with the 10th Anniversary edition of Second to None. This expanded version includes character sketches by Robin Childs, the relevant portions of the appendix from the...
An argument I often see in the writing community is how to define specific terms. Some examples are "When am I considered a writer?", "How long should my novel be?", and "Do I have to be traditionally published to consider myself an author?" Ultimately, many of these questions have one key concept: success. Just like how there are many genres out there, there are differing ideas on what constitutes a writer's success. This can either be a significant motivator or a source of endless depression, so let's look at how to measure the scope of a writer's success.
What are your goals?
I decided to take my writing more seriously in 2017. After cutting my teeth on the self-publishing process for a few years, I released the second edition of my debut trilogy and set a goal for myself to publish at least one book each year. Even though this goal brought me some stressful moments (and motivated me to seek therapy...
Since audiobooks are all the rage for potential readers to encounter your work, I recommend getting an audiobook version into the world as soon as you can—after the paperback or eBook drops, that is. In my three-part series about creating my first audiobook, I discussed how the process isn't too intimidating once you get into it. With minimal equipment and an abundance of time in the evenings, I recorded, produced, and distributed the audiobook for First Name Basis by myself. I did it mostly as a test so that when it came time to narrate my memoir, I could get my most personal story out to the world in my voice. It helped that I had enough experience in these three aspects of making an audiobook due to hobbies I had while in high school and college. You can still hire narrators, producers, and distributors for your audiobook, but these costs add up quickly.
During my panel on audiobooks at COSine...
