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Co-Authoring: How to Keep the Drama On the Page

Photo by Simon Bobsien

Today’s post is by author Midge Raymond.

While collaborative writing is common in many fields—science and academia, for example—it’s less common among creative writers, especially fiction writers. Yet I’ve noticed over the years that many novels are co-written, and I’ve always wondered how, exactly, that process worked—until I found myself co-writing a novel with my husband.

When John and I traveled to Australia several years ago, we embarked on a four-day hiking/camping trip to a remote island off the coast of Tasmania with three other couples, most of us strangers to one another. At one point, after learning we were both writers, our companions joked about whether we would one day write about them—and of course, we joked back that we probably would.

Then, John actually did get an idea: The location of this journey (middle of nowhere), the setting (isolated and surrounded by wild animals), and the history (the island was a former convict settlement that now plays a major role in preserving the endangered Tasmanian devils) would be a great setting for a suspense novel. Though we’re each individually published writers, we share the same passion for the environment and have read nearly every word of each other’s work anyway—so we decided to write this book together.

Not every couple can write together—but on the other hand, it can be a natural turn of events when shared ideas happen. For Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) and Anne Buist (Locked Ward), married for decades and both successful individual writers, their first collaboration, Two Steps Forward, was inspired by walking the Camino de Santiago together. For Charlene Ball and Libby Ware, married writers whose co-authored mystery novels are published under the name Lily Charles, their first collaboration came to them “after saying to each other several times: ‘We really should set a mystery at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.’”

A spark of an idea can lead to wonderful things for co-authors—but whether your writing partner is your spouse, best friend, or a colleague, you do have to proceed with caution. Here are a few tips.

Know when to join forces—and when not to

Having a shared idea may seem to lead naturally to collaborative writing—but this is not always the case. You’ll want to be sure that you and your collaborator are on the same page, so to speak, from the beginning. Before diving into the first chapter, have a conversation about expectations and the collaborative process. What unique skills do you each bring to the project—and how do you choose who tackles which tasks? How do you define success as a team (finishing the book, getting it published, self-publishing)? And, most important, how will you plan to deal with conflict and disagreements?

Ball and Ware caution, “You need to be committed to the joint process from the beginning and to realize that it’s different from writing on your own. When your writing partner suggests a change or wants to take out something you wrote and like, you can either give your reasons for why what you wrote is right for that scene, or you can give it up gracefully, or you can propose a compromise.”

Commitment to both the project and the relationship goes a long way. Buist says of disagreements when writing with Simsion, “We’ve not really had any that a discussion couldn’t fix”—to which Simsion adds, “I just let her win”—to which Buist adds, “No, I give in.” In short, it’s all about good humor and compromise, and you’ll need to be sure you’re both willing to bend if and when you need to.

And if you—or your potential co-author—are accustomed to (or prefer) writing solo, or if you have unwavering beliefs about any aspect of the writing or getting-published process (for example, disagreements over what you want in an agent or an unwillingness to self-publish), you may not be good candidates for collaboration.

Divide and conquer

When you have a shared idea, be sure you’re also prepared to share the work. And keep in mind that, depending on your goals, the work means not only writing but could also mean outlining, research, querying agents, editing, promotion, and myriad other aspects of the writing and publication process.

Sometimes these divisions of labor come naturally. Of Simsion and Buist, for example, Simsion is more of a planner and uses index cards for a book’s outline. “I tend to drive the process in terms of what we’re doing at any particular time,” he says, “but we are equal partners in what goes on those cards.”

In our case, John is great at plot, theme, and seeing the big picture of a story; I’m more scene-focused and detail-oriented. So while we did the early brainstorming together, he ran with the characters and plot for a while and sketched an outline; then we’d do more brainstorming. Next, he’d write a chapter that was fairly skeletal, and I’d flesh it out with details about the setting, characters, and story, which we’d both figured out together.

Ball and Ware have a similar process: One of them writes a chapter, then emails it to her wife, who then “edits and amplifies it, then writes the next chapter and emails it back.” This worked well for their first mystery, until Ball locked one of the characters in a basement with a dead body and no way out. “After that, we decided to plan together what was going to happen next.”

Though they share the writing, Ball feels more connected with the character of Emma in their bibliomystery series, while Ware identifies more with Molly—and for many writers, having two main protagonists can lead to a natural division of labor. For their books Two Steps Forward and Two Steps Onward, Simsion and Buist each took on a character, with Simsion writing the character of Martin and Buist writing Zoe—then Buist would edit Zoe’s words in Martin’s chapters and Simsion would edit Martin’s words in Zoe’s chapters. However, in their third collaboration, The Glass House, for which the story relies upon Buist’s thirty-five years of expertise in the psychiatric field, Buist wrote most of the novel, followed by a “very long editing process” with their publisher. “The patient stories were left to my experience,” Buist says, “but Graeme then molded them into a story that had an arc within the chapter.”

Even after the writing is done, collaborators will need to consider how to handle editing—including with agents and publishers—as well as how to divide publication and promotion tasks. In our case, I happily handled the revision and review of copyedits for Devils Island, since John isn’t as detail-oriented and it’s the kind of thing I enjoy. In turn, being technically skilled (where I decidedly am not), John created our website.

Ball and Ware similarly divide post-writing tasks, with Ware taking charge of social media and Ball focusing on other promotional opportunities—and Simsion and Buist play to their individual strengths as well. “Graeme tends to handle the business and organizational side,” Buist says. “But we do the interviews, talks, and signings together.”

Put the relationship first

Whether you’re friends, colleagues, or a couple, part of successful collaboration is being willing to put the relationship first. This can mean anything from agreeing to compromise to recognizing when to quit if the collaboration or project isn’t working out. You’ll want to be sure you’re able to quit a project without worrying about quitting the relationship.

For collaborators who are acquaintances or colleagues, having a written contract might be the best way to develop and define expectations, deadlines, and exit strategies. This need not be a formal agreement drafted by the writers’ attorneys but rather a list or outline that, simply by being written down, clarifies goals and expectations.

For close friends or partners, the process is usually pretty informal. John and I, for example, didn’t think of any of the potential pitfalls until they were upon us—yet we were both enthusiastic enough about the project (and, fortunately, committed enough to our marriage) to keep moving forward.

When it comes to preserving a relationship, the process of critique can be a delicate one. Buist suggests, “Work out in advance how to deliver feedback.” This is especially important if you’re in a close relationship; as Simsion says, “We’re not as kind as we might be to someone at arm’s length. Recognize that you’re on the same side and that the relationship is more important than the book.”

Having a sense of humor helps, too. John always laughs off my (good-natured) complaints of him creating four characters who have the same name, or when he inadvertently changes characters’ careers or hair colors during the course of the book. Knowing your strengths—and especially knowing your weaknesses—makes it easier to come to agreement, whether it’s about the project or the process. Speaking of agreeing—when Buist says the biggest challenge of writing together is “Graeme criticizing my vomit draft,” Simsion confirms that his biggest challenge is “trying to fix Anne’s vomit draft.” If you know what the challenging parts will be and how you’ll react to them, getting through to the other side is that much easier.

Enjoy the journey

At the end of the day, writers collaborate because it’s fun. For Simsion and Buist, the writing process usually begins with a bottle of wine. “We leave the day behind and relax,” Buist says. “It’s a time we can be creative but also communicate well. It’s ideal for story outlining, exploring themes, and nutting out problems.”

And while the wine time is relaxing, it’s also part of “an ongoing practice,” says Simsion. “It also means we keep talking to each other about the book, which is important to stop us going off in different directions.”

Amazon • Bookshop

Writing together, Simsion says, has been good for their marriage. “I think that having something you enjoy doing together, making plans around it, actually doing it and, as a bonus, getting affirmation for doing it, is good—maybe even essential—for a marriage.”

Ball and Ware agree. “It has added a common interest that we enjoy talking about even when we’re not officially writing or deciding on what should happen next. And it’s fun.”

As for John and me, we wrote a second novel together and are working on a third. We hold important writerly meetings during happy hour, and are planning a book tour during which we’ll fit in some family and friend reunions. Writing, selling, and promoting a book is hard work, to be sure, but doing it together can help divide the workload and double the joys.

Publishing Advice from a Serial Submitter to Literary Magazines

Today’s post is by author Amy L. Bernstein.

Over the last several years, I’ve spent oodles of time submitting short stories, essays, poetry, and novels to literary magazines, contests, and publishers. We’re talking scores of hours devoted to searching, formatting, and submitting my stuff directly to the publishing gods (I’m excluding agents).

This is where I tell you that all that effort paid off, and I have a ton of author bylines to show for it.

But no. The truth is, roughly 99% of my submissions are rejected.

Does that mean I’m a terrible writer? Not necessarily. My odds just about track industry averages. Indeed, the 1% acceptance rule is fairly consistent, whether you’re submitting short fiction or a novel. And memoir is arguably the toughest sell of all.

There’s a disconnect here somewhere, isn’t there? If the odds are so stacked against the average author, why bother submitting anywhere, ever? Why not go out and buy a pack of lottery tickets instead?

Well, it’s simple, really. Unless you plan to self-publish everything you write, you have no choice but to give editors and/or guest judges a chance to evaluate your work on its merits.

If you don’t play, you can’t win.

And if you are allergic to competing, then maybe getting published isn’t for you.

What I do have to show for all the time I’ve spent submitting is a checklist to help authors manage the submission process in ways that mitigate “bright shiny object” syndrome, so you don’t submit to anything and everything that crosses your path. The outcome is never in your control—so you may as well do whatever you can to make the process work for you to the greatest extent possible. 

I’m focusing here on short stories, novelettes (under 20,000 words), novellas (under 40,000 words),  poetry, and (to a more limited extent) creative nonfiction, such as essays. For advice on submitting book manuscripts to traditional publishers, see this set of articles.

1. Devise a submission strategy that reflects your goals

Before submitting anything you’ve written (and polished!), think hard about what you hope to achieve on behalf of your writing career. That will help you narrow the submitting field as you seek out publications that will potentially showcase your work in ways that matter to you most. Simply getting published is not always an end in itself; where you publish, the formatting and distribution, the gatekeeping—these all matter in shaping your credentials as an author over time.

The company you keep

What literary company do you wish to keep? The New Yorker only accepts 0.14% of unsolicited submissions, while other publications accept half or more of submitted work. Are you aiming for an elite literary outlet from the get-go (and willing to wait for it) or are you willing to climb the literary latter, beginning with less prestigious outlets in order to build publishing credentials from there? Do you want to “play” in an international literary community, or is the U.S. just fine?

These aren’t trick questions and there is no single right way to do this. But your submission strategy will feel less random, and possibly even less fraught, if you can rationalize your reasons for submitting as an ongoing part of the process.

For instance, if short stories are your chosen métier, and you wish to become known for that—with an eye toward getting a book published—you’ll want to identify the best outlets for short stories, and continue submitting your very best work to better and better outlets. That puts a big fence around your submission universe. And as your track record improves (you move from lesser known to better known outlets, presumably as your writing improves), editors may pay closer attention to your submission, giving you a tiny edge. (This is by no means guaranteed, but your publishing history counts for something.)

By the way: If you’re wondering how to distinguish the elite (most selective) publications from the rest, there is no single source, but many reliable lists point the way, such as this and this.

Formatting and distribution

Some publications are digital-only, while others produce both online and print versions that you (and others) can order through the publisher’s website. Some are distributed by major book distributors like Baker & Taylor, which means libraries and bookstores may stock them. Some literary journals take tremendous care to surround print work with original art, while others do little more than post text and slap on a table of contents. Think about how you want your work to show up—and where—before you submit.

The recognition factor

Some literary publications annually submit their best pieces (as determined by the editors) for prizes such as the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Prize. If being eligible to compete for this type of recognition is important to you, then check to see whether the publication you’re submitting to does this on half of their contributors. Many do not.

2. Study the fit

The most common mistake submitting writers make—and a huge source of rejection—is the lack of fit between your literary offering and the publication. Note that a huge distinguishing factor among literary publications is the voice they prefer, and whether that voice is genre-dependent or even values-dependent. Be sure you understand this before you submit. For instance, make sure you’re intentional when submitting to a queer literary publication, or a left-leaning culture magazine like Drift, or any other outlet with a specific set of interests. Read several published pieces online before submitting, to make sure your voice is a likely fit.

Likewise, tailor your genre-heavy work to outlets steeped in that genre, ranging from, say, Nightmare Magazine (horror) to Clarkesworld for short science fiction. As obvious as this sounds, writers too often overlook a publication’s milieu—and end up submitting work that isn’t remotely a fit.

3. Follow the publisher’s directions—exactly

Another major reason for rejection can be traced to a failure to follow directions. Read the directions two or three times before submitting. I often copy the submittal guidance onto a Word file, so I can consult it while gathering pieces (such as a hyper-short bio) or reformatting my document (e.g., separate title page, double-spaced, name in the upper-right corner). If they explicitly state that they don’t want stories over 5,000 words, do not submit your 7,500-word piece and hope for the best.

Frankly, prepping a submission can be a time-consuming pain in the neck. But if you wish to be taken seriously—and evaluated on the strength of your writing—then do exactly as requested. And keep in mind you have a choice here: If the directions are particularly onerous, ask yourself if this is a strategically important outlet for you—and therefore worth your time.

Poetry can be especially tricky. The lines are often single-spaced (not double) and the line and stanza breaks need to be crystal clear. If a poetry outlet accepts a PDF, that will ensure your line structure is preserved.

4. Track open-submission windows

In a perfect world, every literary magazine would accept work at identical intervals and respond to authors within the same, reasonable timeframe (less than a year!). But that’s not our world. As part of your submission strategy, use your calendar or task list to note when the submission window opens and closes for a publication you are targeting. Some submission periods run the length of a season, some are open for only a few days.

To find who’s open when, search sites such as Submittable, Chill Subs, the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), Authors Publish, and the fee-based Duotrope.

5. Build a relationship with publications accepting your work

Rather than celebrating a one-and-done when your story or poem is accepted, consider ways to deepen your relationship with that publisher. A number of literary journals also function as presses that accept book-length manuscripts. (A case in point is Able Muse.) And many run paying contests in addition to their general open-submission periods. Begin a conversation with the editor who accepted your work. Express your gratitude and explore what else they may be open to from you. Strike while the iron is hot! (Here’s some inspiration along those lines.)

6. Keep rejection in perspective

Submission and rejection are opposite sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. But you can possibly affect your odds, even just a little, by crafting a clear strategy for where you submit, and why. If an outlet that rejects you is important to you, resubmit in a few months (I’ve done that, and it worked!).

Never forget that this is a terrifically subjective business. An editor who rejects your work has many reasons to do so—and not all of them reflect on the quality of your writing. Many publications received hundreds, if not thousands, of submissions and their publishing quotas for a given issue fill up fast.

In some cases, the editors are looking for a range of subject-matter, and perhaps you’ve submitted something that’s too similar to a piece they’ve already accepted.

If you continue striking out after months of effort, it may be time to revisit your submission strategy:

Seek out publications that are less selective (this doesn’t mean bad!).Double down on assessing where your work fits best, in terms of voice and genre.Look for regional outlets that privilege work from your geographic area.And subject your work to an independent editor who can give you a professional opinion on whether you’re ready to publish.

The good news is that despite all the challenges facing the publishing industry today, literary magazines of all stripes are alive and well—hundreds of them, catering to virtually every taste and style.

With a thoughtful, realistic submission strategy, you will find the publications ready to share your work with the world and help you parlay your successes into a satisfying career.

Crowdfunding for Writers Who Need First-Time Guidance

Photo by Andrea Jaeckel-Dobschat on Unsplash

Today’s post is by writer Jason Brick.

The model we’ve come to call crowdfunding has always existed in the form of pre-sales or (in publishing) pre-orders. With pre-sales, a company or individual pitches an idea to likely early adopters. Those who get excited enough buy one in advance, providing some of the money needed to make the product a reality.

Kickstarter made this easier and more accessible by combining the concept with key components of social media. They gave creators—of books, technology, art, or whatever—a platform for presales. That platform handled the transactions, gave the campaign a home page, and provided social infrastructure to help a project gain followers and momentum. It filled a hole in the modern market, and was successful enough to get cloned. Over a hundred crowdfunding platforms exist today, but the overwhelming share of that market belongs to just four. More on that in a bit.

Authors and publishers alike can use crowdfunding to provide the cash needed to produce, promote, and distribute our books at a level that wasn’t possible twenty years ago. Kickstarter and its clones provide the simplest route for authors to fund new books. A successful campaign gives you the money to hire professionals for editing, layout, design, art, and other skills that aren’t in your bailiwick. It creates initial buzz you can leverage for further sales after the campaign has closed. It can produce enough profit to rival advances from some publishing houses.

In short, it makes self-publishing success even more possible by authors who don’t want to deal with the slow timeframe and low royalties of working with a traditional publisher.

What’s new in crowdfunding?

The newest crowdfunding platform is ten years old. Crowdfunding is established, and produces about 2 billion dollars in revenue for publishers and journalists annually. In 2020, Brandon Sanderson raised over 40 million dollars with a single campaign. It’s old news. Or is it?

Over the past five years, the crowdfunding scene has seen some major changes that will impact how to succeed if you start crowdfunding your work.

It’s no longer fringe

Not too long ago, crowdfunding was the realm of scrappy, independent underdogs making cool stuff happen where traditional publishers were too slow or stodgy to get things done. That was even more true of technology innovations and some really interesting art projects. It was the realm of interesting people doing interesting things, forming tribes of people with similar passions.

Over the past five years, more and more established companies have used crowdfunding for market research, initial cash infusion, and to defray the risk of testing new products. It’s not a fringe operation, but an established business model. A level down the “food chain,” independent crowdfunded publishing projects are still common.

What That Means: The market is saturated on several levels. Your crowdfunded book is not unusual. It’s one of two to three everybody sees on their Facebook feed every day. Among those who see it and are interested, you’re not competing with just other independent authors. You’re also up against professional small presses, who can outspend you on publicity, advertising, and production value.What to Do About It: This doesn’t mean your book can’t succeed in crowdfunding. It does mean you have to come at it in an organized and professional fashion. The days where you can succeed on the basis of an idea are gone. You need a plan, and you need a budget. We’ll talk more about both later on.The rise of Patreon

Patreon took a new angle by combining Kickstarter’s idea with something from the Renaissance: patronage. Way back when, it was fashionable for royalty and wealthy merchants to fund artists and their work. Patreon takes a social approach to this. Instead of a single patron providing a lot of money, they provide a platform where creators can get a lot of people to each support them with a little money. With enough followers it can end up being a sizeable income.

The top five writers on Patreon make a minimum of $35,000 per month just off of their account, plus whatever they make from Amazon, speaking appearances, and similar adjunct earnings. The average Patreon account makes between $300 and $1,600 per month. That’s not quit your job money, but it is about twice what the average KDP author pulls in.

What This Means: There’s a potential new model of crowdfunding success for authors. It’s old enough to be proven and to have built up some community, and new enough you won’t be competing with enterprise-level marketing budgets with full-time staff.What to Do About It: First, consider whether or not you’re the kind of writer who can produce new work reliably on a schedule. If not, “traditional” crowdfunding is a better path for you. If you are that consistent writer, decide whether or not you want to learn the new skillset needed for Patreon success. If the answer to both questions is yes, it might be worth giving a try. I’ve recently started a Patreon account to support my flash fiction magazine. It’s early days yet, and I’m still learning. But if you have some fiction at under 1,000 words, I invite you to check us out and submit.Professional crowdfunders

I already mentioned that full-time small presses are crowdfunding as their core business model. Besides them, there is an ecosystem of professional crowdfunders who will manage campaigns, coach authors, and generally provide skills and experience most independent authors never had a chance to gain.

What That Means: Success with crowdfunding doesn’t require professional-level training and funding. It does require a basic understanding of what works, and what doesn’t, when you run a campaign. People who try to wing it, even in a way that would have done well in 2016, are unlikely to succeed.What to Do About It: Before starting your first crowdfunding attempt, learn about the field. If you ever pitched an agent, your first step was learning how to pitch an agent. Crowdfunding is no longer any different.BackerKit: new player

If I’d written this article even a year ago, my advice would be to use Kickstarter. It’s the Coke and Kleenex of the crowdfunding world. It’s Facebook: where the most people hang out, whether or not they love it. Kickstarter’s platform and infrastructure simply provided an insurmountable advantage. That’s still true, however…

BackerKit spent the first decade of its existence helping people with successful crowdsourcing campaigns organize and manage their fulfillment. They provided order tracking, billing, and communication, and would outsource your entire shipping chain if you paid them.

In 2022, they launched their own crowdfunding platform as well. After ten years of watching what Kickstarter did well (and poorly), they set out to provide a better option. In my opinion, they succeeded in terms of support. They don’t have the crowd size yet, but are poised to do so.

What That Means: Right now, BackerKit is still growing their base, but if you click those crowdfunding links that keep coming up on your feed, you’ll find a growing number of them leading to BackerKit. Maybe more important, the majority of the really exciting projects led by thought leaders in the community are over there now.What To Do About It: As of August 2024, Kickstarter is the market leader and most likely your best place to start: Backerkit’s market share is still just 3% of Kickstarter’s. That said, keep an eye on BackerKit. Those numbers and the best advice might change soon.An updated plan of action

With all the new information, and the heavy-hitting competition, is it impossible for new authors to make it with crowdfunded efforts? I’m here to tell you no. In 2019, Joanna Penn interviewed me about crowdfunding, based on my successful series of Kickstarted flash fiction anthologies. Two years later, I Kickstarted a collection of self-defense stories that netted over $20,000 just from the crowdfunding campaign.

So I’ve had a reasonable amount of success on crowdfunding, in spite of the changed landscape. And I promise, you’re smarter than me. And a better writer. And vastly more attractive. If I can have that level of success, you can do better. Below is a basic plan of action for success you can use as it is, or make the changes your experience and instinct tell you will make it even better.

Most of the coaches and experts I’ve spoken with recommend starting work on a crowdfunding campaign a full year before launch date. Before even that process starts, success begins with two important tasks.

1. Assess your platform

“Platform” was a buzzword in the mid 2010s, referring to your total reach to the public. The term has faded a bit, but the concept remains the same. When you begin your crowdfunding journey, the first thing you need is a solid understanding of who is already on Team You. This includes:

Your total followers on social media like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTokSubscribers to any newsletters or email lists you run, or are a regular contributor toYour close circle of professional, hand-to-hand contactsMembership in any groups or associations in which you have a leadership or highly public role

Not all of these people will back your crowdfunding campaign, but a percentage of them will. If you assume 2% will support you—either backing you, or being responsible for somebody else to back you—you’re unlikely to overestimate your platform’s performance.

2. Develop your expansion plan

Once you understand the reach of your platform, the second question is how you can expand that reach. Start by making a list of each of your platform assets:

List each of your social media accounts, and their number of followersList each newsletter and their number of subscribersWrite the names of your close professional contactsList the groups you lead, and how many active members each has

Come up with three specific actions you can take for each list item. It’s okay to duplicate, e.g., using “get active on related keywords” for Instagram and Twitter. Follow up by identifying three assets you don’t have yet, but could develop quickly.

Use this sheet as the foundation of your plan to grow your platform as an author. Start working on it today. When you’re ready to start your first crowdfunding campaign, the growth of your following will help. Between now and then, it will still generate publicity, excitement, and sales.

Once you have a realistic sense of your reach, it’s time to dive into the details of your crowdfunding project. This plan applies specifically to traditional crowdfunding. If you’re looking at Patreon, some of what’s below will apply.

Begin with the goal in mind

What do you want to accomplish? Ask 100 different authors and you’ll get 100 different answers, 150 if you come ask again six months later. That said, most of those answers—and probably yours—will fall along these general lines:

Cover the costs of editing, layout, cover design, and similar up-front expenses with publishing a professional bookLaunch the book with enough backing to make a defined amount of profitLearn how to crowdfund, and see whether or not you like it enough to do againBuild or expand your platformFuel a subscription model for your content

None of these is the “right” or “wrong” reason to do a crowdfunding campaign. Each one will inform the rest of your decisions. For example, your funding goal will be different if you just want to cover costs versus wanting to make a meaningful profit.

That’s why you consider and define your goal at the beginning. It impacts everything else.

Choose your platform

For a long time, Kickstarter was the best place because it had more people. Like I mentioned above, BackerKit is poised to take the lead, and worth investigating even though it hasn’t as of this writing.

There are two other platforms worth mentioning:

Indiegogo  is the Pepsi to Kickstarter’s Coke. It’s a solid platform but gets about one-quarter of the traffic and funding of Kickstarter. Years ago, Indiegogo had the advantage of allowing partially funded campaigns, but Kickstarter began doing likewise. These days, Indiegogo is best for people with a strong existing following, and folks who prefer to avoid market leaders for one reason or another. GoFundMe  has even larger market share than Kickstarter. However, it’s for charitable giving and funding things like medical bills or school projects. It’s not appropriate for professional publishing, and I mention here only because you’ve probably heard it mentioned.Finish first or after?

This is an important question that will impact the promises you make in your site copy, your fulfillment plan, and your publication timeline. Do you want to finish your book before or after your project funds? Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here, just a right answer for you.

Finish First: Starting your campaign with your book already finished provides several advantages. You have finished product to provide images on your campaign page. You can read finished excerpts during your campaign. Fulfillment is simplified and easy to keep on schedule. On the other hand, it means funding later in your publication journey. If you fail to meet your goals, you’ve written the book and paid for production to no avail.Finish After: This option inverts your process, and the pros and cons. You minimize risk by only moving forward if your project funds, but you don’t have any finished project for promotion. Your fulfillment gets more complicated, takes longer, and is more vulnerable to things going wrong.A Middle Ground: In most of my crowdfunded campaigns, I’ve taken a point in between. When the campaign launches, I have the manuscript finished, but not edited. I’ve done the heaviest lifting in the writing journey, but haven’t spent much money on production. When the project funds, I can move forward with the rest of the process.Make graphics decisions

You’re going to need art. At a bare minimum, you will need an awesome cover to promote at various places online. If you have interior graphics, you’ll need a plan for those. If you want to get really fancy, you can get custom art for your campaign page.

Make a list of the art you want, then find out how much each piece will cost you. The market is broad and complex, made even weirder by the entry of AI. Jane has some good pieces on getting art for your book here and here.

Whenever possible, negotiate to pay your artist per piece, not by the hour. Most prefer to work that way, and it gives you a static number to include in your budget.

Know your vital statistics

Your personal vital statistics give nurses and doctors a snapshot of your health. Crowdfunding campaigns also have vital statistics. Some marketing gurus will go deep on this, offering a bewildering array of metrics by which to gauge your success. They’re not wrong, but the level of complexity isn’t helpful for those of us just starting out.

For the first few campaigns, we only need to focus on a few numbers:

How much it costs to produce each bookHow much it costs to ship each bookHow much you want to sell each book forThe total cost of your flat-rate expenses (like cover art and marketing)How much profit you want to derive

If you know these numbers, you can figure out how many copies you need to sell. This tells you how much your campaign needs to make. For example, with some thought and research you find out:

It costs $3.00 per unit to print a book of the size you plan to produceIt costs approximately $5 to package and ship each bookYour flat rate expenses include:$500 for cover art$750 for editing and layoutA $500 advertising spendYou’re testing the waters on this one, and want to make $1,000 profit off this campaign

Based on this, you need to cover $1,750 in flat rate expenses and want to bring in $1,000 in profit. Each book costs $8 to print, and a little research shows you can sell books of your sort for $18. That’s $10 gross profit per book.

At $10 gross profit per book, you need to sell 175 copies to cover your flat rate expenses, and 100 copies to bring in your desired net profit…except for one thing.

Kickstarter charges a 5% fee for its services, and your payment processing will run another 3–5%. Assume 10% in fees, so add 10% to the number of books you need to sell. That’s ten percent of 275, or 26.5. We’re not sending people to Mars here, so it’s okay to round that to 300.

Your specifics will naturally be different, but you get the idea. It’s vital to know this information before setting up the rest of your campaign.

Pro Tip: Kickstarter gives lots of publicity mojo to campaigns that meet their initial funding goal early. This has led many pros to set their official funding goal at a fraction of what they actually want so they meet that requirement. This approach has its pros and its cons. It’s up to you.

Create your preview page

This is a landing page that gives visitors information about your book, and a way to put themselves on a mailing list so you can let them know when you go live. Every major platform offers a free landing page as part of starting your campaign. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and BackerKit allow you to set up that landing page months before your launch day to start collecting emails and building excitement.

Some others exist, like ClickFunnels, Unbounce, and SamCart. They have advanced functionality that experts can use to fine-tune their prelaunch mojo. Those tools are powerful, but if this is your first crowdfunding project, they will require a whole other learning curve. For beginners, the page from the platform will do just fine.

A word about schedule

At this point, you’re ready to set a launch date. There are two schools of thought here.

You can set a date for your campaign, then work towards it. Aim for a time where you will reliably have the time and energy to put yourself fully into making it wildly successful.You can create a preview page that allows people to sign up for updates. When you reach a critical mass of signups, you announce the campaign will begin in a few weeks.

The second reliably produces better earnings and results. However, it’s more complex and might push you into running your campaign in the middle of other projects. My recommendation is you set a date for your first campaign, then try the preview page method once you’re more experienced and ready for greater complexity.

The campaign itself

Whether you set your launch day at the beginning, or you wait until you have that critical mass of subscribers, eventually you will reach your launch. It’s important that, from launch day minus 30, to a week after closing, you consider this a part-time job you’ve taken on in addition to your other responsibilities.

Yes, that means many authors will be working their day job, seeing to family, trying to write, and be putting 10–20 hours a week into this campaign. That’s a lot, but it’s often worth it. Consider taking time off from writing while you’re in the thick of this.

You can run a campaign for as long as you like, with publishing projects typically coming in at around 30 days. Generally, all campaigns get the majority of their backing during the first and final weeks, so a two-week campaign where you’re highly engaged can also work. It’s up to you.

You can find many excellent, detailed plans for making your campaign work. In my experience, the differences between them are either cosmetic or boil down to personal preference. For your first campaign, pick one you like and follow it to the letter. This isn’t the time to reinvent the wheel. Use a blueprint from somebody who has experienced success, then tweak it for your second campaign once you’ve seen it in action.

Fulfillment and beyond

As tempting as it might be to breathe a sigh of relief at the finish line, you have a long way to go yet. Crowdfunding isn’t just a marathon. It’s a marathon you run after a 60-day sprint. How you behave after closing day will determine a lot about your relationship with your fans, and how receptive people are to your next crowdfunding project.

They key is to keep consistent communication with your backers. Kickstarter explicitly doesn’t guarantee that paid-for campaigns will deliver, and the web is full of horror stories where backer funds disappeared. If you keep your backers posted, they will be forgiving if things fall behind schedule.

However, don’t go overboard with this. A post a week is more than sufficient. You can get by with a simple status update, sharing everything that happened during that week that moved your campaign closer to shipping. On weeks nothing happened, post some kind of preview, even if it’s just a screenshot of your work.

Be sure to make and post an unboxing video when the first books arrive at your home.

Okay, so now what?

I get it. This feels like a lot—and it is. Crowdfunding campaigns are not small endeavors. But, just like writing a novel, the trick is to figure out where to grab hold of it. Once you do that, the rest is just one step at a time.

What I recommend is asking yourself four core questions. Once you’ve answered them, you can start at the top and do everything else in its time.

What? Exactly what book (or kind of book) do you want to produce? Think on this until you know enough to write a proposal and outline. That level of specificity will help you figure out the basics of your campaign.Why? What do you hope to accomplish by undertaking a crowdfunding campaign? I went through the most common reasons earlier. Take a moment and review those, then brainstorm any other reasons you might have. Then pick one and focus on that goal.By When? When do you want to see the results of this attempt? I strongly recommend setting that for at least six months out. Preferably you would give yourself a year. Whatever you choose, creating a timeline will help you set up for success.What’s First? What is the first thing you need to do, discover, create, research, or find a mentor about to maximize the success of your campaign? With projects this large, momentum is important. Identify that first thing, and do it today.

The Importance of Interiority in Novels and Memoirs

AI-generated image by ChatGPT: a writer works on a typewriter in the back of a dark theater; characters are on a stage with a spotlight shining on a single individual

Today’s post is an excerpt from Writing Interiority: Crafting Irresistible Characters by Mary Kole.

A lot needs to be conveyed in a story, from the most superficial ideas to the most profound, and character is the lens through which everything is channeled.

In broad terms, the concept of interiority can be defined as a character’s:

ThoughtsFeelingsExpectationsReactionsInner struggle

These can be expressed in moments big and small. Interiority can be used to mark character growth and change, as well as scene-level reactions to events.

Generally, information can be deployed at four levels of narrative depth.

1. Narration: The reporting of events without reaction or interpretation, as if the character is a security camera, seeing the scene with no specific slant. Though a lot of narration is going to be rendered in a concrete point of view, which is inherently biased, this portrayal of events is about as neutral as you can get. Narration can be played out in a full scene, or in compressed narration, which means a summary of events—like a progress montage in a movie. Most narration is not considered interiority.

2. Interpretation: Interpretation happens when a character sees a scene from a specific emotional or intellectual perspective, with commentary and context that add a personality layer to what is being shown and experienced. Interpretation can be added to small and big moments in a story to develop a character and their unique point of view. We’ll mostly find thoughts, feelings, and reactions at this level of depth.

3. Extrapolation: This involves a character making significant meaning from the stimulus or event in the scene, whether they remember something relevant from the past, change their perception of the present or future, or decide something about the self or another character. Extrapolation is usually reserved for describing bigger or more pivotal moments of character development, or is attached to a reaction or decision that will angle the plot in a different direction due to cause-and-effect logic. In addition to applying to thoughts, feelings, and reactions, extrapolation is closely related to setting, resetting, and analyzing expectations. Here, characters can also ask questions, reexamine their positions, and otherwise dig into what a specific event, relationship, or piece of information means to them in a deeper sense.

4. Subsumation: The character uses the information or stimulus to perform self-reflection and integrate this new information or emotional development into their sense of self, to expose something hitherto unknown about their subconscious, or to grow or change on a deeper level. For example, extrapolation might inspire a character to take a different action, based on perception and interpretation, but subsumation will inspire a character to behave differently from a moral perspective. All of the functions of interiority can come into play at this deepest level, but especially inner struggle.

Contained within these levels of narration is a writer’s opportunity to connect deeply with their own point of view character first, and then, eventually, foster that relationship for readers. By using the tool of interiority, you are adding emotional context for what your character is experiencing in the moment (and outside of it, too, as they remember the past and wonder about the future).

If we review the above list, we’ll notice that narration is going to almost always be present as characters go through scenes and move the plot along. It’s crucial to note that not every moment needs interiority. Sometimes, narration is sufficient. But when we start to go deeper into character perspective with interpretation, extrapolation, and subsumation, we’ll find ourselves adding different layers of depth and meaning. This is the realm of interiority.

The science of thinking, how people think, what they think about, as well as how the mind interfaces with the body and vice versa, has come a very long way in the last century. We are far beyond simplistic (and largely discredited) ideas like a “left brain” or “right brain” personality now. Without getting into psychology and neurology, there’s a very helpful and simple set of questions that can also help you access deeper levels of character and interiority: “And? So?”

If you realize that you’re having trouble getting to a juicy level of depth with your interiority, stop and ask yourself what’s really going on, or how you can make additional meaning for your character in the moment. Here’s an example of how to use “And? So?” when training yourself to think more profoundly about your character’s experiences, reactions, and choices.

Let’s say we have a scene where the protagonist, Sharon, is merely attending a work meeting before anything disruptive happens. (If nothing disruptive ever happens, of course, you may want to consider whether the scene is pulling its weight.) We’ll get some narration of people filtering in, but that’s not exactly story-worthy, so let’s start digging.

And?

Well, what if this is the meeting where the big promotion will be announced?

So?

Sharon wants it.

And?

If she doesn’t get it, she will be humiliated.

So?

Sharon will have to save face.

And?

In front of her boss …

So?

Who’s Sharon’s father.

Of course, this is exactly why Sharon probably won’t end up getting the promotion. The optics are too dicey, and the father and protagonist both want to avoid nepotism accusations.

For this scene to really sparkle, though, Sharon should either be kept in the dark or actively misled about her chances by the father himself (or one of Daddy’s sycophants). That way, her expectations at the beginning of the scene will generate tension and inner struggle, and the events of the scene—and the final outcome—will matter more.

Notice how “And? So?” keeps us focused on continually not only digging deeper but raising the stakes of the situation.

At the surface narrative level, Sharon is sitting in a conference room and watching her colleagues filter in. But once significant events start happening, interiority kicks in to convey some of the wrinkles we just discovered with “And? So?” Interpretation should become involved, at the very least, but maybe some extrapolation and subsumation, too. Sharon might leave the present moment and start thinking or worrying about how events will impact her, or go back in time and replay a gaffe she now fears will doom her. She’ll fixate on every conversation she’s had with her father in the last few weeks, sifting around for clues.

But job and family aside, what about Sharon’s deeper sense of self?

Let’s say she’s a workaholic. Her job is a major part of her identity. Whatever happens with this job is going to either raise up Sharon’s self-worth or plunge her into despair. There’s also the potential for a twist, because success can sometimes be more fraught than failure. If she does get the job, will she always wonder whether she truly earned it? Will she forever have to watch her back against jealous colleagues?

What started as a pretty normal meeting full of narration is now a potential inciting incident, midpoint, act break, or climax scene. If this moment ends up being pivotal, and Sharon is confronted with the loss of her job or becomes her father’s scapegoat to demonstrate a commitment to corporate restructuring, she’s now set up for some very interesting reactions and decisions.

This hypothetical scenario brings me to a crucial question that many writers have about the logistics of interiority use. When is interiority appropriate, and how much do you use?

When and How Much Interiority to Use

To address this question, I like to pull out my favorite idea of the writer as a spotlight operator. Imagine a darkened theatre, a proscenium framing a stage, alive with activity during a dance number, and then, suddenly … a beam of light shines on the soloist. The audience will automatically know to look there. In short, it is your job to draw attention to the important elements of your story. By directing reader attention to an event, impression, or interpretation, you are, in essence, shining a bright spotlight (in the form of additional interiority) and making a big statement: Look over here! Remember this! It’s a big deal! This matters!

The more time, description, reaction, and emotion you lavish on a story element, the more a reader will believe that this thing, person, event, or idea is important. Spotlight moments in the plot are major turning points, instances of character change, events that alter the trajectory of a character’s objective, motivation, or need, and other places where character, plot, and the novel’s big-picture theme intersect. Interiority is often used to brighten and focus that spotlight.

You’ve gone through the trouble of creating this plot for this character. (That’s right, the plot should be a very intentional choice to showcase your character development.) Make the important moments more impactful with interiority and juice maximum emotion from the events you’ve engineered.

Another great time to use interiority is when you’re establishing who your character is, their past, their present, and their imagined or expected future. No, I don’t mean an info-dumping chapter of backstory right as the novel is trying to get off the ground. That’s very much frowned upon in most contemporary writing that aims for traditional publication.

Instead, I mean areas that could use more context. As a character’s mind changes on an issue, is there any background that becomes especially relevant? Do we deepen interiority as they vacillate or decide to go against their moral compass? As they’re worrying about the future, is their inner memory zooming back to some past event that makes the present even more poignant?

As you get more comfortable with this tool, you can also play around with the type of interiority you use, offering a superficial narration and coupling it with deeper extrapolation to enhance a moment. Sometimes all it takes is a few sentences of insight—a dash of seasoning instead of a whole side dish.

Formatting Interiority

So what does interiority look like on the page? How do we format this stuff? Is it just italicized verbatim thought?

There are a few set formatting conventions, but their ultimate use is up to you and your own writing style. Interiority generally appears either folded within the narration or in italics, whether in a quiet moment of reflection or in the midst of scene and action. The first option means narrating as normal and incorporating interiority into the flow of the text itself, without any special formatting. This can work in either first or third person. The second option renders the verbatim text of the thought, impression, reaction, or interpretation on the page, which separates the content of that interiority either via italics or with a “thought” tag before or after the content. Again, this is common in both the first and third person.

If we’re folding the interiority into narration, alongside some dialogue, for fun, it might look like this:

“This is so yummy,” she said, wondering how she might sneak away to the bathroom and spit out the steak, which was tougher than shoe leather. This would be risky, and Jim would no doubt notice. What a disaster.

If we’re using italicized verbatim thought or “thought” tags, it might look like this:

“Oh, so this is your favorite steak place?” she asked, forcing a smile. Maybe the kitchen’s having an off night? she thought. But Jim seemed to be enjoying the food. Maybe this guy doesn’t have taste buds.

In the modern publishing marketplace, more writers weave interiority into the narrative without offsetting it, as we saw in the first example. You wouldn’t normally need both, or you can add the “thought” tag the first few times you offer verbatim thought, then let the italics formatting stand alone. This approach tends to be more common in third person, as in first person, everything the character thinks is biased and slanted through their lens, so the argument could be made that it’s all interiority.

The more interiority you read, the more you’ll internalize how to use it within the flow of your own writing. It’s important to note the overlap of interiority and voice here. Both rely on writing style, syntax, and word choice. By practicing one, you will always be homing in on the other.

Today’s emotionally intelligent and nuanced fiction and memoir markets put a premium on getting to know your character deeply. Interiority is your best bet for adding vulnerability and authenticity, which are huge factors that pull readers into a story. At this turning point in our culture, when humans can be found pouring out their feelings, perspectives, and identities left and right via social media, readers want more access to a protagonist’s inner life. They want to experience entertainment that thinks deeply and asks big questions. Once you train yourself to use interiority and ask those big questions of yourself and your characters, you’ll never look at writing the same way again.

Writing Interiority: Crafting Irresistible Characters by Mary Kole features excerpts of interiority from over fifty published works. It takes a deep dive into every major character development topic, including theme and premise, point of view, backstory, objective and motivation, need, inner struggle, character growth arc, secondary characters, information reveals, reactions, decisions, stakes, world-building, and voice and writing style. Written for any serious creative writer who is hoping to add more nuance and character to their, well, characters, Writing Interiority is available in both ebook and print format.

6 Hidden Benefits of Creating a Book Proposal

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Today’s post is by Anne Dubuisson and Jon McGoran.

You may have been contemplating writing a nonfiction book for years, or perhaps the idea only recently showed up on your dream map. Once you’ve determined that there is a gap in the bookshelf on a particular topic that your knowledge and expertise can fill, your next step is to prepare a book proposal. A proposal is often necessary to present your idea to literary agents and publishers, but in our many years helping authors create their proposals, we have found that the process offers some important side benefits as well.

1. Organize your thinking 

Your idea may be vague, or it may be clear. Either way, a proposal will save you time and frustration by helping you figure out how best to develop and espouse that idea in the most compelling way across eight or more chapters, before you begin writing.

Let’s say you are thinking of writing the history of the summer Olympics. Do you want each chapter focused on the evolution of a specific sport? Or will each chapter focus on all the sports within a specific time period? Or perhaps you want each chapter to revolve around one athlete who made a significant impact on the games.

Chapter summaries are an essential piece of a book proposal, and they must convey not only a colorful description of content but also a reason for it. Why is it a necessary piece of your narrative plan for the book? If you can’t find the why in a chapter, you might choose to eliminate it entirely or choose another way to frame the material.

2. Clarify your audience

It’s tempting to think your book will appeal to everybody who reads, or, as in our example above, everybody who follows the Olympics. But if you approach the writing of your book from that perspective, you could actually end up reducing your audience. It’s nearly impossible to market a book to such a broad readership. Sure, your writing and topic will be so engaging that many people might like to read an article about it or hear your tales over the dinner table, but who are the people who will actually purchase or take your book to the cash register? Are they the avid listeners of particular sports podcasts? Readers of recent popular biographies of athletes? History buffs who might be seeking to broaden their understanding of the evolving impact of sports on society? You’ll need to answer this question in the audience piece of your book proposal. Once you determine your audience, you’ll understand how you need to speak to them which leads to…

3. Find your voice

Maybe you are a regular blogger, or have a job writing promotional copy, or publish academic papers. Or maybe you just feel confident you have all of the tools at the ready in your book-writing toolkit based on educational credential or expertise. But will the voice you are accustomed to using in your other writing be appropriate for your targeted audience?

Most of the writers with whom we develop book proposals tell us they want a “conversational style” for their work. But this style can differ based on whom they intend to have a conversation with. Is the appropriate voice the casual banter of old friends watching a game or the more formal language of a TED talk? By having your target readers in mind and spending some time drafting the sample chapter or two required for your book proposal, you’ll begin to get a feel for the right style and tone.

4. Strive for precision and professionalism

Writing a whole book is like embarking on an Olympic triathlon, but preparing a full book proposal can be painstaking work as well. You’ll go through several, if not dozens, of drafts, as you carefully choose every statement and adjective. A book proposal must serve as a shining example of your book’s engaging voice, fascinating revelations, and compelling narrative. But it must also serve as a testament to your professionalism. Applying the necessary level of rigor to your book proposal is great training for the similar demands of writing the book itself, in which errors will be immortalized in every copy printed.

5. Broaden your thinking about marketing

One of the most important elements of a proposal is the marketing plan, in which you detail how you will use your connections and position to sell copies of your book. You may be the world’s preeminent scholar on the Olympic games and this will surely yield an expertly researched book but are you known for your expertise beyond a tight circle? Have you written articles on the subject for prominent print or online sources? Do you have well-placed friends or colleagues who will provide endorsements for you? Do you belong to relevant organizations or associations that might provide other avenues for promotion?

Think about how you will market your book at every stage of the preparation and writing process so that when the book is finished you’ll have a robust plan in place. And if it seems that these connections and other marketing opportunities currently available to you fall short, that can be an important message that you may want to step back from the idea of writing a book until you can bolster them.

6. Possibly save yourself a mountain of work and heartache

Perhaps one of the most important benefits of writing a book proposal is one of the least pleasant. Putting together your sample chapter, chapter summaries, marketing plan, biography, comparable titles, overview, and audience can be remarkably effective at clarifying your thinking. It can guide you to improve your book in countless ways. But it can also show you the limitations of your idea, the paucity of the audience, or why you might not be the person to author this particular book. While these realizations can be bitter to swallow, they are infinitely more palatable after the considerable effort of writing a book proposal than they would be after the Herculean task of writing the book itself. And the sooner you move on from a book idea that has no future, the sooner you can move on to a potential bestseller.

Overcoming Trauma-Induced Writer’s Block Through Mindfulness

Photo by Hans Vivek on Unsplash

Today’s post is by Maggie Langrick, publisher at Wonderwell Press.

Writer’s block is a common struggle among creatives, often seen as a problem with inspiration or willpower. However, for some, writer’s block stems not from a lack of discipline or ideas; it’s a trauma response.

Emotional trauma can leave a lasting imprint on our psyche, disrupting our emotional equilibrium and creative processes. It can resurface in various ways, including writer’s block, especially—though not exclusively—when we are writing about the traumatic experience itself. Delving into difficult memories and emotions can trigger emotional overwhelm, clouding our thinking and shutting down creative self-expression.

If you’re struggling to write and you suspect trauma may play a part in your writer’s block, mindfulness practices can help you reconnect to your inner voice, calm your nervous system, and gently approach the difficult material you are working with.

The power of mindfulness in releasing creative blocks

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and engaged in the current moment without judgment. For writers struggling with trauma-induced creative blocks, mindfulness offers several benefits:

Awareness and acceptance: Mindfulness promotes awareness of your thoughts and feelings without judging them or trying to change them. This acceptance can reduce the pressure and anxiety associated with writing, allowing you to approach the blank page with a more open and compassionate mindset.Stress reduction: Practices such as meditation and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response. Lower stress and anxiety levels can make the writing process feel less intimidating and more manageable.Emotion regulation: Mindfulness helps to steady the nervous system, empowering you to handle difficult emotions that may arise during writing. This makes it easier to stick with the task throughout your writing session instead of shutting down.Reconnecting with the present: Writing about our trauma often pulls us deep into painful memories and can make us feel almost as though our past experiences are happening now. Mindfulness anchors you in the present moment, helping you stay focused on the act of writing and take comfort in the fact that you survived those hard times.Practical mindfulness techniques for writers

Incorporating mindfulness into your writing routine can be transformative. Here are some practical techniques to try:

Mindful breathing: Before you begin writing, take a few moments to focus on your breath. Inhale deeply through your nose, hold for a few seconds, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this several times to center yourself and calm your mind.Body scan meditation: Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Slowly scan your body from head to toe, noticing any areas of tension or discomfort. As you identify these areas, breathe into them, releasing the tension with each exhale. This practice can help you become more aware of physical manifestations of stress or anxiety and promote a sense of safety.Grounding exercises: When you feel overwhelmed or triggered while writing, try grounding yourself by focusing on your physical environment. Notice the feel of the chair beneath you, the texture of your desk, or the colors in a piece of art on your wall. Engaging your senses can help anchor you in the present moment.Compassionate self-talk: Practice self-compassion by acknowledging your struggles and offering yourself kindness. Instead of criticizing yourself for feeling blocked, remind yourself that healing is a journey and it’s okay to have setbacks. Speak to yourself as you would to a dear friend who is facing similar challenges.Mindful movement: Many writers find physical movement essential to a productive writing practice. Try beginning each session with a mindful solo walk to get your ideas moving. Incorporate gentle stretching or yoga into your breaks. Even simple movements like rolling your wrists or flexing your feet at your desk can help release tension and bring you back into your body.Connection to purpose: It’s common for writers with complex trauma to judge themselves harshly and invalidate their desire to write, especially when writing about the people who hurt them. Remind yourself that writing about these experiences can bring healing and insight to your readers as well as to you. Making this mindful connection can give you the courage to carry on.Healthy self-boundaries: We all have limits, and pushing yourself beyond yours is a surefire way to worsen your writer’s block. Be mindful of your emotional and energetic bandwidth and give yourself permission to halt the session if it all becomes too much. By respecting your own boundaries, you will gradually build trust with yourself and keep the doorway to creativity open.

The final thought I want to leave you with is that you are not alone in your struggle or your healing. If you find it difficult at times to grapple with difficult material on the page, you’re in good company—many esteemed writers have faced the very same challenges. And your desire to transform your wounds into art is a good reason to write.

You have a right to heal and a right to reclaim your voice; in fact, your healing is a benefit to the world. There are many readers out there who have suffered in ways similar to you, and reading your story can be a balm for their pain. Sometimes this simple reminder can melt the most stubborn case of writer’s block and unlock the power of your creative potential.

Cooking Up Success: The TikTok Personality Behind a Bestselling Self-Published Book

Every month, I compile three bestseller lists that showcase what books are currently selling through online retail, using Bookstat data.

Two of these lists focus on self-published books exclusively (print format and ebook format), and a third list looks at both traditionally published books and self-published books (print format), but excludes Big Five publishers and other major houses. I call it “Hidden Gems.”

All of these lists tend to put self-published authors front and center, authors who often miss out on appearing on national bestseller lists. Too often that’s because their sales are online-driven or ebook-driven, not because they don’t have sufficient sales. (For example, the New York Times won’t list a book if it’s sold and distributed only through online retail.)

On the July 2024 list, I noticed a new author and title I had never seen before: Matthew Bounds, author of Keep It Simple, Y’all. The book hit #2 on Hidden Gems, and #1 on the self-published print bestseller list.

I immediately searched for Matthew Bounds online and saw that he has a combined following of millions across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook—built in just a couple years. And I discovered that Keep It Simple Y’all is not his first book, it’s his second. He’s known informally as Your Barefoot Neighbor and is based in Gulfport, Mississippi.

I reached out to Matthew to ask if he’d be willing to talk about his journey and the publication of these two cookbooks. He graciously agreed.

So to start from the beginning, I gather from your social media posts that you started all this during the pandemic. Is that correct?

No, I was a little late to the game. All the people who kind of got popular during COVID started in 2020. I didn’t get started until 2022, it was about two years ago. Because actually, after the 2020 election, I was like, I need a break. And I completely deleted all my social media apps. I got rid of everything. I spent over a year just completely off the grid. I read a ton of books, did a whole lot of stuff for myself.

In spring 2022 a friend of mine was like, Hey, I started the TikTok channel for my French Bulldog. Can you go make a TikTok account so you can heart my videos and stuff? I was like, yeah, absolutely. So I went and I made a TikTok account. And that was the first social media account I had made since I got rid of everything. And it did not take me long to get the itch.

What did you start posting on TikTok?

I was posting DIY content, projects I was working on around the house, yard work. I was building a fence, so I was posting footage of that. I was goofing around, doing the trending audio and stuff.

I was also learning to cook. That was my project during the pandemic. I was 39 years old, and I had never learned how. But I had not planned on having a cooking channel, because I can’t cook.

One night, I posted what I was making for dinner, and a few people seemed a little interested. I didn’t even talk through it. I literally just got shots of what I was doing and put music over it. So I did it again. And then I started doing voice overs, saying what I was doing. A few of those popped off and went really viral. So I was doing that more and more.

Your handle is Your Barefoot Neighbor—has that always been the case?

Yeah, when I started that first TikTok account, I had to come up with a username, and I wasn’t officially planning then. Again, I was just getting on there to support my friend. I didn’t know if I was going to make content or not, but I guess I had the foresight to know that if I wanted to make content at some point, I needed a good handle. It was gonna be yard work and DIY, and I just wanted something really casual, approachable and fun. And so I came up with Your Barefoot Neighbor. But now that I cook, people think it’s a play on Barefoot Contessa. It’s not, but it kind of works both ways, I guess.

Tell me about your first book, Come Fix You a Plate—how did that happen?

Last February [2023], a friend of mine called me and she said, “Hey, there’s this printer-publisher, and they’re wanting creators to sign on. They’re gonna make a book for you, I’ve already done one. I told them you would do it. I’m not asking, I’m telling you, you’re good. You’re going to do it. They’re going to call you today, just say yes.” And I was like, All right, cool, yeah, let’s do it.

This is the company Found?

Yeah, they called me and we wrote it in like six weeks. In May 2023, that one launched, and that’s when I got serious. I was like, Okay, I guess I’m officially a cooking show. So, that’s what I did all last year and then this year.

Six weeks to publish a book, that is blazingly fast. Did you just take existing recipes that you had, or did you have to create more on the spot?

Found told me they wanted 50 recipes. I literally got off the phone with them, and I just sat down and started writing everything. There was no theme. It was just, what have I made that’s going viral, right? What’s easy that I know how to do?

I called my mom. I said, Hey, give me your pound cake recipe. There’s a recipe of my mother-in-law’s in there that she always makes. It was a lot of stuff that I already knew. And there were a few fillers because I gotta get 50. Like the stuffed bell pepper recipe. I’m not a big stuffed pepper fan, but, recently, for some weird reason I’ll go through phases where I’m just getting all these people commenting about the same thing they want. And all these people have been commenting and wanting a stuffed bell pepper recipe. I don’t eat stuffed bell peppers. So I was like, OK, you know what? It’s going in the book. I’m gonna come up with a stuffed bell pepper recipe.

There were a ton of typos, because [Found] is more of a printer than a publisher. The appeal is you get it out quickly, but you better double-check yourself, because they’re not editing. They’re going to copy what you send them, and they’re going to put it in the book, and it’s going to go out. I mean, they really have a good model for social media, because social media is fast. If you’re on the upward trend and you’re climbing and you got videos going viral, you know, it’s great, because they can get a book out as fast as you can send them material, and you can ride that wave. So it worked for me at the time. It was perfect.

They send you regular sales reports?

I get one every two hours, so it’s pretty cool. I’m very much a numbers person. When I’m doing big pushes, or I’m trying to hit a goal, it’s really cool to see real-time numbers coming in.

If you wanted to do this book on your own, could you? Do they take any rights?

The contract was for 12 months. After that, you can just take it and go do what you want with it. So I’m past my year mark. At any point, I can just pull my book and redo it myself if I want to.

Found doesn’t sell any place except through their site, correct?

Yeah, that’s one of the big reasons I did the second book myself. Found was great for me when my following on social media was one-tenth of what it is now, so I was pretty much a nobody. They gave me a shot, and that was really great of them. For me to have had such a small audience, and I’ve sold 80,000 copies in a year, I mean, that’s outstanding considering that it’s only available at that one link. [Editor’s note: Matthew later emailed with a more accurate figure: 78,634 copies sold]

Yes, it is! For your second book, Keep It Simple Y’All, that’s just you self-publishing?

This year came around, and I’m literally 10 times the size [on social media]. And I’ve done a TED talk, and I get invited all these places, I go speak at events. I’m always meeting people, and they’re like, “Oh, you have a cookbook. What’s the name of it?” And they open up Amazon, and I’m like, Yeah, so you can’t get it on Amazon, you can only get it at this one place. And I got really tired of having to explain it. I need something that’s really easy for people to find. And so I did it myself.

How many have you sold?

I don’t know the exact number, but between 35,000 and 36,000. We’ve done almost 6,000 in August so far. That’s not too shabby for me. I don’t know what industry standard is, but for me, I’m over the moon.

That puts you at the top of the traditional industry, too! I notice there have been some bad actors mimicking your book or trying to trick people into buying a book that’s not actually yours. That must be very frustrating.

It’s extremely frustrating. It really got to me at first, but I kind of hit a point where I’ve talked about it so much. I put direct links to my book, everywhere, and I’ve posted it a million times. If someone gets scammed at this point, it’s on them. I can’t be responsible for every single purchase. If you look it up on Amazon, it comes right up and it’s got 600 reviews, so I feel like any reasonable person should be able to tell.

There’s a ton of fake Facebook pages that impersonate me, and I do my best to keep up with everything. But at some point people just have to use some common sense. Obviously I am not going to be messaging you, asking you to go buy $125 in Walgreens gift cards. Like, why would I do that?

Do you see much difference in the type of audience you’re attracting on each platform? Stereotypically we say Facebook is older, TikTok is younger. Do you see that come through?

Yeah, my TikTok analytics say that my average viewer is between 34 and 44 or about my age. They seem to trend younger or more progressive, more technologically savvy than my Facebook crowd. On Facebook, they’re the ones where you have to hold their hand and explain, “This is a scam.” The TikTok crowd just seems to get it, they know how to differentiate.

Is this now your full-time living?

It is, I went full time a year ago, last August. I took a two-week break from my job. I was an insurance adjuster, and I was on the customer experience side of it, and I was in between projects. So my boss was like, “Hey, if you want to go focus on your social media for a couple weeks, and then just call me and let me know how you feel.” And on day one, I was like, I’m never going back to work.

Do the books make up a good portion of the income? Or is it gravy?

The books are definitely bread and butter. The books are the biggest part of my income. My day-to-day money is mostly social media income, Facebook money, TikTok money, sponsorships and stuff like that.

I haven’t had time to watch your TED talk, but I was really intrigued by the title of “The Recipe for Aggressively Positive Online Communities.” It’s obviously a philosophy that’s guided you and has led to success. Could you give us the one-minute version of that talk?

The recipe for aggressively positive online communities started out by saying, “Give me a stick of butter and a casserole dish. In less than five minutes a day, I’ll build an active, engaged online community.”

The whole talk is about how social media is what you make it. And if you are determined to have a positive experience, you will attract a positive audience. And there’s also a bit in there where I talk about how I’ve been called an aggressive, swearing Mr. Rogers. And I really love it. I might be kind, but I’m not always nice, and I do cuss a little bit, and I’m very quick to set the tone and tell people what the boundaries are. I think that’s really important. You do have to stand up and kind of snap back at people a little bit and let them know what will and will not fly.

Parting advice?

If anybody is reading this, just do it. It’s never going to be perfect. It’s never going to feel like the right time. You’re going to think of 100 other things you should have done differently after you hit the publish button. But just get it out. Just get it out there, because it’s not doing you any good sitting on your computer. Upload it, get it out there. It’s gonna have typos. You misspelled something, Amazon’s gonna send out literally thousands of copies that are missing pages 72 and 73, but it’s out there, and you don’t know who’s gonna see it, or who’s gonna hear about it or read it or want something more from you. None of that’s going to happen if you don’t just get it out there.

Thank you so much, Matthew.

Is It a Book? 5 Ways to Test Your Nonfiction Book Idea

Today’s post is by Bethany Saltman and Fran Hauser, book coaches and co-hosts of the podcast BOOKBOUND.

Writing and publishing a nonfiction book is a big investment—of time, energy, and often money. In our work with authors, we find that people often approach the process with passion and ambition but without any sense of what it really takes to get the attention of an agent or editor, especially in today’s crowded market. That’s why we’ve created these five ways to test your book idea.

1. Do you have a sticky, counter-intuitive idea?

It’s not enough to have a good idea. A successful book is an idea about another idea, and the more surprising or “counterintuitive” the better.

We use the seed sentence from the writing teachers Marie Ponsot and Rosemary Deen: “They say _____ but my experience tells me _____” to help writers discover their counterintuitive ideas. You should be able to identify a book’s sticky idea or even the “They Say” right in the title.

These three books make it clear that they aren’t just sharing a big idea with their readers, but that they’re going to make us think differently about something:

Real Self Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses Bubble Baths not Included) by Pooja Lakshmin, MDHow to Love Someone Without Losing Your Mind: Forget the Fairy Tale and Get Real by Todd BaratzThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Does your book have a sticky, counterintuitive idea? If not, don’t worry. Try writing ten “They Says” and see where it takes you. This will take some time, and it’s worth it because without a strong idea, you don’t have a book.

2. What kind of publishing path is right for your book?

When new authors come to us, they often have an idea in their minds about what getting their dream publishing deal will look like: an agent, a big advance, and a book tour. While they don’t always know it yet, theirs is a fantasy about getting a traditional deal with a Big Five house (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan), and, unfortunately, it is usually a fantasy—not because their book isn’t a great idea, but because they don’t have the “platform” (i.e., reach) to justify the investment from a Big Five publishing house. Also, book tours are a thing of the past, even for many Big Five authors.

The great news is that there are many publishing paths available. When we work with authors, we invite them to align their goals with their publishing path. Here are key questions to consider.

Do you already have strong readership or reach—and want a chance at a national bestseller list? Big Five publishers look for nonfiction authors who are already engaging their target readership, then build on the foundation that’s already been created. While publishers help secure nationwide retail distribution and mass media attention, they still rely on authors to get the ball rolling. A significant platform is often a requirement if you want to land on the New York Times bestseller list. Note: you’ll need an agent to be considered by a Big Five publisher.Are you a recognized authority or expert in your field, but don’t have much reach to your potential readership? A traditional publisher outside of the Big Five may be a good fit, and that includes university presses. They may be more focused on the quality of your writing, ideas, or scholarship, especially if they already know how to reach the target readership for your book. They often have the same strengths as the Big Five, but many do not require an agent.Do you expect to sell the book directly to your readership, at events, and/or through online retail? Then you stand to earn much more money via self-publishing if you’re willing to learn the process and assemble whatever talent you need (e.g., editing, design, and production help).Do you want to retain as much control as possible over the final book, but have no desire to manage the publication process? Then you may want to consider a paid publishing service or hybrid publisher to get your book to market if you have the money to invest (costs are typically in the low five figures for high-quality, industry professional results). If bookstore distribution or physical retail distribution is important to you, look for a publisher or service company that has traditional distribution through Simon & Schuster or Ingram Two Rivers.

For much more information on the key publishing paths, see this post from Jane.

3. Is there room for it?

Let’s face it. Truly original ideas don’t come along every day. And that’s OK! Finding your spot on the shelf is a matter of finding that sweet spot between “proof of concept” (books like yours that have done well) and “white space” (how your book will be different). One way to discover that sweet spot is to hone in on your unique perspective.

One of our favorite case studies for finding room in a crowded market is Bonnie Wan’s bestselling book The Life Brief. Wan is the head of brand strategy and partner at the storied marketing agency Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners. Ten years ago, anguished by the choices she’d made in her life and dangerously close to a divorce, she had an epiphany: her expertise was in helping her clients discover what really mattered about their brands by writing a creative brief. So, she decided to try writing a creative brief about her life. As she puts it, “I was applying the craft of what I had mastered in advertising, but toward very different things.” And voila! Wan found room on one of the most crowded shelves in any bookstore—self-help—by writing a book only she could write.

Here are some other ways to differentiate your book from others like it:

Voice & perspectiveOriginal/counterintuitive way to look at somethingA new piece of researchA fresh form, i.e., adding photos to prose, etc.

When asking yourself if there is room for your book, the answer is definitely YES! You just have to get smart about how to position it.

4. Who are you writing for?

While it’s natural to want to write a book that will reach the masses, the irony is that the best way to reach a big audience is to write to one specific person. In marketing, this is called your Ideal Customer Avatar (or ICA). We call this person your muse.

We define your muse as the person whose life will change after reading your book. Ideally, your muse is a real person you know, though it can also be your past self. Once you decide who you want to write for, you can explore what your muse really needs by asking about their PPQ: Pain, Problem, Question.

For instance, in Bethany’s 2020 book Strange Situation: A Mother’s Journey Into the Science of Attachment (Random House), her muse was her past self, an insecure young mother.

Her PPQ was:

Pain: What is her core discomfort? The thing that keeps her up at night? I feel like the worst mom in the world.Problem: Because of her pain, what is her central problem? I am so busy beating myself up, I am missing out on my baby’s love (which would actually help soothe my pain).Question: Based on her problem, what does she want to know? Is this normal? Or is there something really wrong with me? And what can I do about it?

Keeping your muse in mind is incredibly helpful when writing your book for a couple of reasons. One: writing for one person makes your writing very specific, which is the mark of all strong prose. The other is that connecting with your muse and your desire to help them with their PPQ keeps you engaged in the writing and publishing process—especially when faced with the inevitable challenges and rejections. When you write your book in service to a specific person, you’ll stay inspired even when it’s hard.

5. Are you the one to write it?

If you want to write and publish a nonfiction book, you’ve probably heard—perhaps with a shudder of fear —the word “platform.” An author platform refers to your experience and network expertise in the space you are proposing to write about. It’s the thing agents and publishers look for to validate that you are a credible source on your topic (and, of course, they’d like you to leverage your platform to sell books).

And while people often look to social media numbers as an indication of their platform—and certainly when you’re looking at Big Five publishers, numbers are important!—there is much more to it.

We like to think of “platform” as your “author-ity.”

When pitching your book, one of the most important questions you’ll have to answer is why you’re the one to write it. So, in answering that question, consider all of the following:

Education and degrees, including certifications, prizes, and honorsWork experience + major wins at workNetwork: who do you know, and will they endorse and/or amplify your book?Social media presence. And PS: Engagement matters just as much as followers, if not more!Publications and bylines, including all the writing you’ve done professionally, and don’t forget about published academic researchNewsletter (e.g., Substack) and email list—again, engagement, engagement, engagementUnique personal experience with your topic

After testing your book by asking yourself these five questions, if you discover that YES, your idea really is a book, congratulations! The great news is that now that you’ve gone through this process, you’ll be in a great position to write your proposal, which is your next step. And if not, that’s great news, too.

Books are wonderful tools to share your ideas and insights, but they certainly aren’t the only ones—perhaps your work is better suited for a podcast, a Substack, or a class, or all of the above! In any case, by testing your idea, you’ll be ready to share your work with confidence and true authority.

Note from Jane: Twice a year Bethany and Fran offer a BOOKBOUND Accelerator for aspiring authors who want to turn their great ideas into standout books.

Choosing Story Perspective: Direct Versus Indirect POV

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

Today’s post is by editor Tiffany Yates Martin. Join her for a three-part webinar series POV Mastery, starting on Wednesday, August 21.

You’ve developed your central story idea, worked out your plot and stakes, know your characters as deeply as close friends.

But what’s the most effective way to tell their story?

Point of view is rarely the first storytelling element authors focus on when creating their stories, but it can arguably be the most important. Strong, clear, well-chosen point of view serves as a powerful guiding force for readers: inviting us into the story, setting the tone for the journey, and subtly directing how we experience it and how we react.

Point of view is your story’s voice and its vibe, an element invisible to most readers, but which permeates their entire reading experience. Choosing the right one and executing it well may be among the single most challenging and yet most impactful elements of your entire story. Poorly chosen or unskillfully executed point of view can leave readers lost, confused, or just plain detached, unlikely to finish your book.

So, you know, no pressure!

Let’s do a quick review of the various points of view, then look at a key distinction among them to decide which might best serve your story.

Direct and indirect POV

While there are three main categories of point of view—first person, second person, and third person—in today’s publishing market two are most prevalent: first person and third person. (There are always a few outlier novels written in second person, but they tend to be on the rarer side, so we’ll focus on first and third.)

Of the four POVs most commonly encountered in today’s publishing market, they can be broadly summarized as a choice between direct and indirect point of view.

First-person (“I/me”) and deep third (he/she/they or him/her/their) are more direct perspectives. The narrative voice is that of a character in the story, usually (but not always) the protagonist. Readers live the story directly through their firsthand, immediate perspective, and the narrative is written in the POV character’s voice.Omniscient and limited third can be characterized as indirect perspectives, where there is a separate narrative voice that is not that of the character, but has varying degrees of narrative distance from them.Omniscient point of view is the all-powerful “God” voice, able to see and know anything, go anywhere, travel in time, etc. It’s privy to any character’s thoughts and reactions, but only as an eavesdropper who can report on what they observe. Readers are not privy to the characters’ direct experience.Limited third is confined to the purview of a single POV character at a time. The narrative voice can see and know and report on only what is within that character’s perspective, although it is separate from the character and as such can “notice” things within the scene that the character can’t, like someone standing behind them. As with omniscient POV, limited third has access to characters’ thoughts and reactions, but only as an observer, not directly in their immediate experience—and in this case, only with the single POV character of the scene.

For a deeper explanation of these POVs, see Picking a Point of View.

Thinking of the points of view in these two categories—direct and indirect—is a great frame of reference for considering which might best serve your story and you as an author. Each has benefits and challenges that may determine what feels most comfortable for you, what best suits the story’s genre and feel, and which offers you the perspective and narrative power that allow you to tell the story as effectively as possible.

Direct POV

First-person and deep-third POV can create a strong connection between reader and character, but they also come with certain demands and risks. The deep intimacy of these voices requires profound character development, and can risk a myopic, navel-gazey feel that can compromise momentum with too much interiority (i.e., too much thinking, not enough action).

Direct points of view offer all-access passes to your characters’ immediate perspective. That means there’s no separate narrative voice: the character is the narrator, even in the slightly artificial remove of he/she/they pronouns in deep third. (For more on this sometimes tricky perspective, see Is Deep Third an Actual POV?)

That means every single development in the story must be framed through your character’s firsthand experience of it: their thoughts, reactions, emotions, what they make of things, how they are affected, how it impacts their behavior, etc.

All good stories require keen character development, but with direct POVs authors have to develop an especially comprehensive, minute understanding of who the characters are: their upbringing and how they were shaped by it; how they talk, what and how they think, how self-aware they may be, and how much of their true inner selves they share; their ideology, frame of reference, assumptions and illusions.

You must anchor yourself as the storyteller firmly within your POV characters’ immediate perspective: see through their eyes, think their thoughts, feel their feelings—and the narrative is filtered directly through their frame of reference.

The characters’ blind spots are also the narrative’s blind spots, which can be somewhat limiting for you as the storyteller, but can also offer you opportunities to create heightened suspense and tension by using this as a device to conceal story elements from the reader.

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl builds much of its suspense this way in its first-person POVs, based on what Nick and Amy each know and don’t know in their constant cat-and-mouse game. Liane Moriarty uses deep third to similar effect in The Husband’s Secret, availing herself of each POV character’s limited perspective to create suspense, build secrets and unknowns to a climactic reveal, and slowly paint the full picture of the story one brushstroke at a time.

In determining whether direct or indirect POV is a better fit for your story, it’s also worth considering its genre, as well as the “feel” you want the story to have, your narrative approach. Perhaps because of the lack of a separate narrative voice, direct POVs may suggest a more casual feel to readers, less formal—as if we’ve been invited right into the character’s reality, rather than having it shown to us by a “gatekeeper.”

Any genre can be told in any POV the author chooses, but direct POVs tend to predominate in those where plunging readers directly into the characters’ perspectives creates intimacy that can heighten the reader’s engagement and their identification with the POV character(s), like young adult, mystery, women’s fiction, and romance.

Indirect POV

Limited third and omniscient, the more indirect points of view, allow the author a greater field of vision, a chance to tell the story through a wider lens. They may offer you more storytelling freedom—especially in the limitless perspective of the omniscient voice—but can also readily lend themselves to fuzzy, uncertain, or slipping POV that can leave readers feeling disoriented, confused, or removed.

Indirect POVs can risk prioritizing story action over character development and arc. With indirect POVs, authors must be especially careful not to simply describe or generalize story events, but to create a sense of immediacy and intimacy, despite that layer of narrative remove.

And because they are reporting on characters’ experience rather than directly sharing it, these removed perspectives can risk feeling lifeless and distant, full of emotive “tell” that may leave readers unaffected: “She collapsed in tears, sobs tearing out of her mouth.”

Because readers are deprived of firsthand access to the impact of story events on the characters, the risk is that we don’t feel the actual emotions of the story, just dispassionately observe how they manifest in the characters. If in direct point of view the author can let readers feel and experience the character’s emotions, in omniscient and limited third the challenge is to evoke it in them.

That can be more difficult from the narrative remove of these perspectives. You have to find ways to open the window into the characters’ inner life without breaching the boundary of their direct perspective—reporting on it rather than plunging into it.

The benefit to these more removed perspectives, though, is that readers can know more than the characters do, even about themselves—which can offer you as the storyteller opportunities to heighten suspense and tension with that juxtaposition, and deepen the story’s emotion and impact.

Ann Napolitano takes advantage of this in the omniscient Dear Edward, when readers know the passengers in the “before” section will all be killed save Edward when their plane crashes, but the characters have no idea. Bonnie Garmus does the same with limited-third POV in Lessons in Chemistry, for instance when readers know Calvin is dead before we see the news being broken to Elizabeth.

Because indirect POVs aren’t tethered to characters’ immediate experience, one of the author’s constant challenges in these perspectives is to orient the reader and keep their feet firmly planted in the story’s perspective. We need to understand the narrative viewpoint—the lens through which the narrative voice is observing the story events—without feeling as if the “camera” is swinging crazily around the room.

Indirect POVs entail a separate narrative voice, so they also require development of this added element of the story, in addition to developing each character’s distinct voice.

The narrative voice may reflect the feel of the story to help create the story world, as in many historical novels, where the language and syntax might reflect or evoke the sensibilities of the period. It may be an objective invisible storyteller, a neutral camera panning across the story’s panorama, as in Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half. Or it may establish a definitive “presence” or perspective from which the story is being related—as with Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is ostensibly drawn from a self-referential guidebook by the same title, or the unusual first-person omniscient voice of Death in The Book Thief, or Yunior in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

As with direct POV, any story can successfully use indirect POV, but these removed viewpoints lend themselves well to genres where broader perspective is useful, and the story’s feel may be less informal and chatty: “literary” or upmarket fiction, science fiction and fantasy, action/adventure, police procedurals. It can also work well in suspense/thriller and horror.

POV consistency

Stories may incorporate both direct and indirect POVs—say, one story line in deep-third POV and another in limited third, as in Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures. 

But some stories seem to flit between both within the same sections of the narrative. This can be the most confusing use of POV, because these stories seem to breach the boundaries between POVs in ways that can easily risk disorienting readers, creating a weak or unclear narrative perspective, or head hopping.

Delia Owens frequently jumps between omniscient, limited third, and deep third in Where the Crawdads Sing, for instance. Kevin Kwan rampantly leaps into direct POV even within indirect limited or omniscient sections of narrative. Even the venerated Jane Austen often blurs the lines between direct and indirect POV.

In trying to pin down the POV “rules” in stories like this—which may play fast and loose with them—authors can often feel confused about how to use POV consistently and clearly.

As with so many elements of storytelling craft, though, it’s not how well you follow the “rules” that determines how successful and effective readers may find your story, but whether or not they engage and invest in it. The only real rule in writing is, if it works, it works. And that’s often a subjective determination, heavily dependent on how clearly the author establishes the story’s perspective not just section to section, but even line by line.

Regardless of which one you’re using, POV is most successful when it doesn’t draw attention to itself or to the author’s hand.

Note from Jane: If you enjoyed this post, join us for a three-part webinar series on POV Mastery. You can enroll for a class specifically on direct POV, indirect POV, and/or Mixed POV—or register for all three with a discount.

How I Went From “Big 5 or Die!” to Ecstatic Self-Published Author

AI-generated image (ChatGPT): a cozy sunlit home which is decorated for a party. On the dining room table is a sheet cake decorated with the author’s name and book title.

Today’s post is by author Denise Massar.

When I started writing my memoir, my publishing goal was Big Five or nothing. I pitied indie authors as also-rans. Anyone could self-publish. Where was the clout?

I had not completely unrealistic dreams of being interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show. (Yep, that’s how long ago I began writing my book.) I imagined being interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air. I dreamed of a book launch party with white twinkly lights and a cake with my book’s cover on it. I wanted my editor to take me to lunch in Manhattan.

I thought I was on my way in spring of 2020 when my book went on submission. My agent, Jacquie, received exciting feedback—one editor wanted audio rights if we could sell print rights somewhere else. Another said she loved my book and pitched it at their editorial meeting but couldn’t convince the rest of her team. That one hurt. A New York publishing house sat around a table and debated making an offer on my book?! While I was what … cleaning the litter box? Astonishing. But ultimately heartbreaking.

Five months later, we ran out of editors to pitch, and my book died on submission.

Amazingly, I got a second chance. Because my book was on submission during the earliest months of the pandemic and we’d received positive feedback, Jacquie thought it was worthwhile to wait a year, let the incestuous (her word, not mine) world of publishing do its thing, see where editors landed, and give it another go.

So, I went on sub again. 

And my book died on sub. Again.

I was—offended is truly the best word here—that landing an agent and going on sub didn’t guarantee a book deal. I never considered that my manuscript would reach 50 editor inboxes and not find a publisher. I thought “on sub” was a one-way trip; I didn’t know my once-impeccably-dressed-ingenue of a manuscript could boomerang back to me, wearing a pit-stained white T-shirt with “I’m going to step aside on this one…” Sharpied across her chest.

 My agent changed jobs and let me go.

A successful mentor in the publishing industry said to me, “I think your book’s a university press book.”

And I was like, Yes! It’s memoir! It addresses the social issues baked into adoption like racism and classism! My book is totally a university press book!

While it did feel like a considerable step down from the Big Five dream, it was a respectable one. I could still go around throwing out the phrase, “My publisher said…”

Around this time, I found a lump in my neck. Three different specialists said that it wasn’t cancer and because the tumor was lodged between my carotid artery and my jugular vein, it was better to get annual scans to keep an eye on it than to remove it. But an endocrinologist—whom I didn’t trust because she was so young—ran some blood work that revealed I had a genetic mutation, and that, actually, the tumor would turn into cancer. (That newly minted doctor I didn’t trust probably saved my life.)

Things got scary fast. My previously unfazed surgeon was ordering PET scans, stat!

I spent 10+ hours in the bowels of an MRI machine wearing a Hannibal Lecter-like mask to keep my head still. And when you’re in an MRI machine wondering if all of the beeps and bangs and machine-gun-like rat-a-tat-tats of magnetic imagining are going to reveal “tumor characteristics” consistent with malignancy, the very last thing in the world you give a f—k about is Matt Lauer. 

It was agreed that the tumor had to come out before it turned into cancer if it hadn’t already. It would be major surgery with a four-week recovery.

One week post-surgery I got the lab results: the tumor was benign.

Quietly healing throughout February 2024, I mostly thought about how happy I was to be here. That I’d been given a pass to keep being here. But, slowly, throughout the spring, my mind eased out of survival mode and I thought about my book: What did I want as an author? What were my publishing goals now?

I knew exactly.

I wanted my kids to see me finish the job. When I started writing Matched, they were five, three, and newborn. They’ll be 16, 14, and 10 when my book publishes. They’ll have dreams of their own threatened by failure, family obligations, work responsibilities, health issues, and wavering confidence, but if they want to achieve them badly enough, they’ll keep going. I wanted them to have a model for what that looks like.

I wanted to hear from people who read my book—readers touched by adoption, readers who’d also searched for secret biological relatives—anyone who connected with my story and felt inspired to reach out. I got a hit of that drug when an essay I wrote for HuffPost in 2023 went viral. In it, I wrote about caring for my mom while she had terminal cancer. I talked about how sadness wasn’t my overriding emotion; though I loved my mom deeply, my primary emotion was stressed-out. The day the essay ran, I received hundreds of Facebook, Instagram, and email messages, and they all said: Same here! Me too! I thought it was just me!

And I still wanted a launch party. I grew up reading about the literary fetes of the 1990s and couldn’t help but imagine my own. The same mentor who’d encouraged me to go the university press route (they all passed on my book, too) helpfully reminded me that even if I’d gotten a book deal, as an unknown debut memoirist, I wasn’t gettin’ a party anyway.

So, I’m throwing my own twinkly, joyous celebration. The book cover cake has been ordered.

The snobby writer I was when I first began my author journey in 2014 would’ve never believed that she’d end up truly ecstatic to be self-publishing her book in 2024. Perspective can’t be rushed. I’m proud of my path from “Big Five or Nothing” to “War-Grizzled Self-Published Author.”

This week, at my launch party, my kids will hear me talk about how hard this journey was and how happy I am that I kept going. I’ll dance in the night air with family and friends.

I’ll receive messages from fellow adoptees saying they had to fight to see their birth certificate, too. Or that they also reunited with their birth mom. Maybe a hopeful adoptive mom will message me saying that she’s still searching for her baby, wondering if it’s ever going to happen for her. And I’ll sit at my desk in my pajamas and reply to every single one of them.

If you’re somewhere in the murky middle of querying, or your book died on sub, or the whole mess is in a goddamn basket somewhere, take a rest if you need to. But then keep going.

Take out a pen and make a list: What do you really want to get out of publishing your book?

Amazon • Bookshop

Can you make it happen? Do you need to be traditionally published to do it?

Maybe you want to do a reading, or a signing, or to see your book in your local library or a bookstore. You can do all of those things as an indie author!

It’s not about Matt Lauer (or Hoda & Jenna), or even Terry Gross.

It’s about holding your published book in your hands. It’s about your story finding your readers, whether 30 or 30,000, and the human connection that your words will spark. It’s about celebrating with the people who were there for you all along.

And you don’t need anyone but yourself to make that happen.