Nick Thacker's Blog, page 14

How Are You Advertising Your Book?

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If you’re new to the self-publishing world, you’ve probably been a little surprised at how…lonely things can be.

If you’renot new to indie publishing, you still probably wish there was some help you could find throughout the process.

But besides writer’s groups, family, and friends (all of which are great, by the way), what options do you have to team up with others throughout the process?

Are you reallyalone?

Kristen Lamb ofWarrior Writers has a book and brand call...

Gearing Up – NaNoWriMo and A Magic Potion Recipe

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Are you ready?

It’s almost here.

The moment you’ve (probably not) been waiting for.

Dust off those typewriters, update your copy of Scrviener, or sharpen those pencils…

It’s almost time for NaNoWriMo.

As you probably have heard, NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month,” and it happens every year in November. It’s a grueling, 50,000-words-by-the-end-of-the-month competition against yourself.

And if you win, you’ll have finished a full-length novel (or if you...

KDP Select/Free Promos: Should You Give Your Book Away?

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Ah, the big question.

I received yet another email yesterday from a nice person asking this very question. They have two (almost three) self-published novels for sale on Amazon, and the question was phrased as, “I don’t understand the value in giving my work away for free, since it doesn’t generate a lot of sales.”

My reaction is always the same: I get it.

But that doesn’t at all change my stance.

If you’re a self-published author, or even just a creator of “stuff”...

CreateSpace, Lightning Source, Lulu — Where Should YOU Self-Publish Your Book: The Ultimate Resource

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I’ve been going around and around with numerous book printers over the past three years. Ever since I got the crazy, half-baked idea in my head that I wanted the “control, speed, and cost-effectiveness of self-publishing” rather than the traditional way to do it, I’ve been through the ringer with pretty much all of the well-known “indie”-book creation shops.

Specifically, I’ve been down into the depths of customer service, user forums, technical spec sheets, and...

A Fiction Writer’s Guide to Using Real People in a Story

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Note from Nick: This is a guest post submission that brings up an interesting (often forgotten) point: there could be legal issues regarding using “real life” people, namesakes, etc. in your story. It’s something I’ve never really considered, so read on!

Sometimes a story cries out for an appearance by a real person, perhaps a famous person your readers already know. Or an unknown person who’s real life is indeed stranger than any fiction you can conceive.

Did you...

Learn How to Structure Your Novel—in Five Minutes!

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Note from Nick: This is a guest post by by K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland), who runs theawesome blog Helping Writers Become Authors, of which I’ve been a huge fan for some time.

Learn How to Structure Your Novel—in Five Minutes!

Does that title sound too good to be true? Well, it isn’t. No, seriously, if you read at the same pace as me (and, yes, I timed myself), then by the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll have learned how to structure an entire novel.

Who...

Learn How to Structure Your Novel—in Five Minutes!

Note from Nick: This is a guest post by by K.M. Weiland (@KMWeiland), who runs theÂawesome blog Helping Writers Become Authors, of which I’ve been a huge fan for some time.Â

Learn How to Structure Your Novel—in Five Minutes!

Does that title sound too good to be true? Well, it isn’t. No, seriously, if you read at the same pace as me (and, yes, I timed myself), then by the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll have learned how to structure an entire novel.

Who knew it was that sim...

The 5 Most Common Blogging Blunders

“I’ve noticed in other writers’ blogs there’s a tendency to…”Â

began an Email from a client and fellow writer requesting my services to set up her new site.

It’s a common mistake I witness many writers making in their approach to blogging–trying to emulate what they view as the “standard” and hoping to “be like mike.”

Perhaps you’re one of them.

If so, today we’ll dispell common myths, and you’ll discover a better way to blog and brand your business, for optimal succes...

Story Structure: A Lost Art?

If you’ve written anything of length, you no doubt understand the debate between “planners” and “pantsers.” On one hand, who wants their outline to dictate every beat, sentence, paragraph, and more?

On the other hand, who wants to suffer the unbelievably painful realization in the last few chapters that their story is DOA due to a lack of planning?

Whatever side you’re on, there’s an important lesson here.Â

Story structure is still vital to the story.Â

No arguing allowed.

Boom. Done. Bottom line.

I...

How to Hack Your Motivation: Part 1 – Why You Are Not Motivated

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I’m republishing this post from 2011 as a way of reminding myself to be more motivated… hopefully it helps you as well!

Motivation is a tricky thing. I’ve heard it described as a “muscle,” meaning that like muscles, we need to exerciseour “motivation” in order to increase its usefulness. Most of us suffer from instances of prolonged apathy or even disdain for our projects, our goals, and our lives. Some of us even have an issue with self-discipline. Why is it tha...