Power-Wash Your Writing

On June 28, 2012, in eBook Pricing, Indie Authors, Opinion, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

The other day we had the wood on our fences and our deck power-washed. If you had asked me a couple of days before that what the boards on the fence and deck were worth I would have said “nothing”. They were an awful shade of gray—not light gray, or bright gray, but that dingy, […]

 

Are You Still Trying to Sell A Million EBooks?

On June 18, 2012, in Indie Authors, Miscellaneous, Opinion, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I know a few people who play the lottery. Many of my friends are engineers, and mathematicians long ago calculated that your odds of taking out a ten million dollar life insurance policy and then flying from one coast to the other every hour of every day would be a better investment than purchasing one […]

 

Does Your Cover Brand YOU?

On April 25, 2012, in Indie Authors, Opinion, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I grew up in Wyoming, so I know a little bit about branding. However, as an author, I sometimes lose sight of its importance. To an Indie author—hell, to ANY author whose last name isn’t King or Koontz or Locke—there is nothing more important in the beginning. You’ve got to get your name in front […]

 

Should You Give Away Your Art?

On April 4, 2012, in FREE STUFF, Indie Authors, Opinion, PHREAKY FREE STUFF, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

We’ve all learned it. There’s no free lunch. But there are also very few maxims and I have actually received a free lunch or two in my time that required nothing on my part but to sit down and eat them. Point is, I’ve been giving away free copies of my first book, Black Beast, […]

 

Sunday Soapbox: Better Judge Your Book By Its Cover (Because Everyone Else Will)

On March 18, 2012, in Indie Authors, Soap Box, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I usually don’t recycle guest posts I do for other blogs, but this one is an exception. I think cover design is an important consideration for Indies and that makes it worth an extra blog run. This post originally ran on author Trish Gentry’s fantastic blog, ChickletsLit. I love reading her blog because she, too, […]

 

Guest Post: Frederick Lee Brooke (8 Things He’s Learned)

On March 13, 2012, in Guest Posts, Indie Authors, The Market, Twitter, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

You’re all familiar, I assume, with Twofer Tuesdays? This is when a radio station plays two songs in a row from every artist that day. Well in a way this is a Twofer for me today—I have the honor of hosting another guest blog AND it is also one of my favorite Indie writers around. […]

 

Phreaky Friday: Indies Must Pay (An Editor)

On March 9, 2012, in Grammar Police, Opinion, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Wow, I can’t believe it’s another Phreaky Friday already. TGIPF, right? Or any kind of Friday for that matter. And if you work an off-shift and today is your Wednesday (or God forbid, your MONDAY)…well, I’m sorry. But the rest of us are freaking PUMPED. (You can laugh at us next week.) So the other […]

 

5 Ways to Get Noticed and Earn a Full-Time Writing Job

On March 6, 2012, in Guest Posts, The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I love hosting fellow writers on my blog, particularly when they have some usable advice for the rest of us. Lately I have been contemplating that leap of faith most serious writers will consider at least once in their lives. I’ve reached Frost’s celebrated divergence in the woods; down one road, corporate servitude and that […]

 

A Needle in a Stack of Needles

On September 6, 2011, in The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I can’t be the only writer who feels this way. I believe in my work. I am my own worst critic, so it’s not like I lay around eating sugar sandwiches knowing the gravy train can only be a few minutes from the station. Okay, the part about sugar sandwiches, maybe—but I only eat them […]

 

Entertaining Me To Death

On September 3, 2011, in The Market, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

I recently blogged on passive voice and using too many clichés. A responder on Twitter wrote that, while what I said was true, it is entertainment and exposure that make bestsellers in the fiction genre. This response, while not all that uncommon, really got me to thinking. I believe there are few misconceptions in what […]