Today’s funny:
A pastor, a rabbit, and a priest walked into a restaurant.
The rabbit says, “I think I’m a typo in this story.”
The Writing Life
Writer’s Block Becomes Writer’s Talk
Seth Godin once wrote in a blog post: No one ever gets talker’s block. No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down. What a liberating concept! It reminded me of a great book by Joel Saltzman, If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Of course, …
How to Write Your First Novel – an Interview
Thomas Umstattd Jr. interviews Steve Laube Thomas: So, you’re thinking about writing a novel. You’ve tried your hand at writing a few times, but the story just hasn’t come together. Or maybe you wrote and wrote, but you didn’t quite like what you wrote. The method of starting to write and hoping for the best is the hardest way to write a novel. It’s like trying to …
Secrets of a Successful Author Aren’t Secret
Because being a book author is more of a self-taught profession, those who are successful at it are often analyzed by aspiring authors to find out how they did it. Sometimes even asking, “What’s your secret?” If an author responds honestly, they will reveal that their pathway to success is not secret, nor does it contain shortcuts or easy-to-follow checklists. I remember watching a documentary …
Keep Vigilant Online
Since authors must maintain an online presence and many receive scam messages, I’m addressing online safety today. On impulse during a recent trip to the library, I checked out Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You by Becky Holmes. The author relates how she communicated with scammers and victims in this lively and well-researched book. The book focuses on romance scams; but the advice …
Teamwork Makes the Publishing Work
One hundred years ago today, Christopher Tolkien was born to Edith and John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien. He was the third of four children and the youngest son. Christopher was deeply involved in his father’s work, editing it and drawing the maps used in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) books. At one point, his dad invited him to join the famous writer’s group The Inklings. Here’s an interesting …
How to Be a Successful Author-Entrepreneur With Kara Swanson
Become an author entrepreneur by learning to leverage transferrable business skills to build a sustainable writing career.
Write Through Your Fears
What are you afraid of? Poor sentence structure, such as that question? Or something else? Writers may not fear ghosts, goblins, ghouls, or other Halloweeny frights. But anyone who writes—and especially those who write for publication—must face his or her fears, or choose some less terrifying profession, such as bomb squad technician. Some of us dread ridicule. Rejection. Insignificance. Poverty. …
Announcing the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference
I’m excited to announce that tickets are now for sale for the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference. The conference will be held in Austin, Texas, on January 17 and 18. This event is not a typical writer’s conference where you learn how to write and publish a book. This article first appeared on Novel Marketing, so if you follow both blogs, this will be a repeat for you. What makes the Novel …
Writing History Too Soon
Over six and a half years ago, I wrote a blog for this space on the necessity for authors to be students of history. Awareness of past events is important to determine a current context, a healthy perspective, and a sense of how things change (or not). Sometimes, the long-term implications of an event are quite different than initially thought. Most of us can look back on life events with a …