Nick Thacker's Blog, page 15

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

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 exerciseÂour “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 that motivation is so often an el...

Are You Afraid of Money?

This is an excerpt from my upcoming nonfiction book, “The 21 Laws of Self-Publishing.” If you’d like to be notified when it’s ready, be sure to sign up for the newsletter!

A common dichotomy in the creative is the struggle between “creating art” and “commercialization” of a finished work. For artists of all kinds there is an intricate balance between creating art and selling it, and for many artists, the cliché of being a “starving artist” is all too true.

As a writer, it’s impor...

Productivity Tool Box: 7 Hacks That Will Get You Writing Faster

Time management is an obstacle many writers face as they create their work schedules on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It is important for freelance writers to develop these schedules based upon the deadlines imposed by their editors, as well as other work they may need to accomplish. For example, if a writer works outside their home alongside their freelance career, they must pay close attention to how each work schedule coincides with each other. When managing so much, the need to writ...

31 Blog Post Headlines You Should Steal Immediately

…32, actually, if you count that one.

Part of running a great blog is creating content that’s worth reading. The problem with that is it’s not alwaysÂclear to the reader that the content is worth their time.

I’ll leave the content and subject matter up to you, but I though I’d kick off the week with some headline “mad libs” that you can use right now for your own blog.

How to use them

If you’ve ever played “Mab Libs,” these headlines should be familiar. Simply swap in a word or phrase that works...

How to Self-Publish Your Book: Design Matters

I got started self-publishing books shortly after I began writing my first thriller. Initially, I looked around for traditional publishing companies that I thought might be interested in the book — I checked the acknowledgements sections of my favorite thrillers, hoping to find a lead for an agent or small shop that would bite.

You can probably guess how the rest of the story goes: shopping around for publishers, reading up on query writing, pitching a few agents…

…And then giving up.

Some peopl...

The Star Wars Guide to Blogging

Okay, I can hear what you are thinking. What does Star Wars have to do with blogging? Well, actually a lot. You see since I blog so much I see blogging in everything, even my all-time favorite movie series. The classic story of a young manís journey to find out who he is speaks powerfully to all of us. In my case, however, there were lots of characters in that film series that spoke to me. Hopefully they will speak to you too. Without further ado, here are some tips from Star Wars that will...

The “Secret” of Great Writing: Guest Post for Positive Writer

I’m blogging today at PositiveWriter.com. Bryan Hutchinson is a blogger and writer friend of mine, and he runs quite a blog on writing and staying productive. If you haven’t heard of the site yet, or haven’t visited, go check it out now!

The post I wrote for his site is calledÂThe “Secret” of Great Writing,”Âand I think it’s an important lesson for anyone who calls themselves a writer.

Oh, and if you enjoy the post, leave a comment on the blog or here!

Advertise here with Beacon Ads

The post The...

New Here? Check This Out…

Howdy!

Thanks for visiting LiveHacked.com — hopefully you’ll find something you’ll like.

I’m guest posting today atÂtwo fantastic websites: FirepoleMarketing.com and SelfPublishingTeam.com.

Please go visit these awesome sites, subscribe, and leave me a comment there!

If you’re visitingÂthis site because you clicked through one of their posts,Âthank you!

I wanted to give you a brief overview of what we’re all about here at LiveHacked:

First, this site is dedicated to helping creators (authors, publi...

How to Edit Your Novel

…Pay someone to do it.

Seriously — the first few reviews are in for The Golden Crystal and most of the issues people have with the novel is the “lack of editing.”

Here’s the truth, though: the book was edited.

Most of the issues that people are referring to are probably things that crept into the final draft afterÂmy editor had worked through it. I — proving my deep, deepÂintelligence — thought I’d just “tweak” a few things, here and there.

Bad move, Nick.

If these final tweaks that ended up cau...

You’re Too Stupid To Build A Platform

I’m a bit miffed.

I got an email the other day from a good friend, which quotedÂanother email from a well-known writer and blogger. The quoted email was a response to a question this writer received, and the title of this blog post is the general theme of that response.

Let me start slowly, to get you up to speed. I won’t give you the “guru’s” name, as it doesn’t matter. Just know that this person is a political blogger and has readership to the tune of at least 100,000 regular readers.

First, h...