Nat Russo's Blog, page 11

Free Story: Simulation Over

Nicholas Rossis, a wonderful writer and friend, author of the #1 bestselling epic fantasy series Pearseus  (Year 18: The Schism, and Rise of the Prince available on Amazon), will be releasing The Power of Six, a collection of six science fiction short stories, on May 15, 2014.



In anticipation of the release, Nicholas has honored us with a preview by allowing me to post one of the six stories, Simulation Over. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Simulation Over
Stealing a pa...

What Is The Right Length For a Chapter?

New writers invariably get around to asking me the same question:

"What is the right length for a chapter?"

So let's dig into this in a little bit of detail and figure out the answer!



Let me just preface everything I say in this article with "In the case of my style of writing..." That should drive the point home that I'm not trying to establish any "rules" I think people should follow.
For me, chaptering is a tool that serves at least four different purposes, and sometimes each at the same time....

Necromancer Awakening Breaks Into Top 25 Bestseller List

I woke up this morning with a text message from a friend waiting on my phone:

"#25!"

I can hardly believe it myself. One week after publication, Necromancer Awakening broke into the Amazon Top 25 Dark Fantasy Bestsellers list.



Moreover, out of a half-million books on Amazon overall, Necromancer is currently ranked #5601! 



I can scarcely wrap my mind around it! I'm simply without the words to sufficiently express my gratitude to you all. Thank you so much for following my journey, from my fir...

4 Common Attributes of Successful Writers

If this is the first time you're putting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, in an effort to produce a poem, short story, novel, or even some other form of art, know that you're going to doubt yourself. You're going to struggle to "get it right". You're going to feel like a fish out of water. And you're going to want to quit.

Each of those things is a signpost on the road to success, because each is one of the four common attributes of successful writers.



Self DoubtThis is unavoidable. Self do...

Necromancer Awakening: Chapter 1

The release of Necromancer Awakening: Book One of The Mukhtaar Chronicles is right around the corner. To celebrate, and to give you all a taste for what you're in for, I've decided to release the first chapter right here on the blog.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And don't forget, if you want to read the rest of the story, Necromancer Awakening will be released on Friday, April 11 on the Kindle store, followed shortly thereafter in other formats. Read on past the...

Review: Story Forge Cards

A few months ago an old high school friend sent me a link to a Kickstarter project that he thought I'd find interesting. It was for a project called "Story Forge Cards", and it claimed to assist writers with everything from plot issues, to character creation, to resolving moral dilemmas, and all that with nothing more than a beautiful deck of cards and chance. I spent some time reading through the details, and I was intrigued. But the timing was all wrong. I was elbow deep in starting my...

Readers Will Judge Your Book By Its Cover

Admit it. You've judged a book by its cover in the past. No, you may not have put the book down and refused to buy it, but I'm willing to bet you picked one up and read the back because the cover caught your attention.


Am I wrong?



A bad cover may not hurt your sales, but a good cover will improve them. Human beings are visual creatures, and as writers/publishers we need to take advantage of this whenever possible. So how do we make sure we're producing the best possible cover?

KNOW YOUR GENREThi...

3 Easy Steps to Fix Your Manuscript

I know what you're doing. You're sitting there staring at your laptop screen. Your're probably making this face:




And you're getting nowhere. If this is you, keep reading. There are three things you can do right now to fix your manuscript problems.

Step 1: Quantify the ProblemThose of you who have followed me for a while know that in addition to being a writer, I'm also a software engineer. Software engineers—the good ones at least—are big on process. Software engineering, on the other hand...

Necromancer Awakening Cover Reveal

I've been sitting on this news for about a week, eagerly awaiting all of the final business matters to be wrapped up, and now I'm proud to reveal the cover for Necromancer Awakening: Book One of The Mukhtaar Chronicles!
It's been a three-year labor of love; 90 days writing the first draft and the rest of the time editing and rewriting.
I hope you love it as much as I do!

Necromancer Awakening: Book One of The Mukhtaar Chronicles

"Knowledge in the absence of wisdom is a dangerous thing."

Texas arch...

Self-Publishing Vs. Traditional: My Decision

Those of you who have followed me here and on my other media outlets for some time will recall how adamant I've been about traditional publishing. Until the end of 2013 I was absolutely convinced I would be querying agents and publishers for an indefinite period of time, collecting rejection slips like they were going out of style.

Not anymore. My thoughts on the subject have completely changed, and I'd like to tell you why.




Defining SuccessI've long held that you should never allow another per...