My job as the author of the Gabby Wells Thriller series is to make Gabby’s life a living hell. And I do, relentlessly. That’s what every author is supposed to do. To torture the protagonist so you can torture the reader. Do I like making Gabby’s life an insurmountable mess? Yes and no. I like […]
Whether you are independently published or traditionally published, the majority of the ownership for your success falls on your shoulders. It is up to the author to write good stuff, build a fan base, establish beta readers and street teams and marketing plans. It’s why real writers treat writing as a business. It’s where the […]
Getting over the hump sure has helped. In a little over a week I was able to write 10,000 words and probably have another 3,000 ahead of me before putting Skyway aside. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the scope and placement of Skyway has changed and the ripple effect of those changes […]
This week was a tough one, writing-wise. As mentioned on our last podcast, the second novella, Skyway, takes place over a continuous 36 hour period. Because of this limitation and a lot of the moving parts having to do with plot and character, what would normally be a smooth process has been quite a struggle. […]
I did a lot of writing, but not that added a lot to the word count. I did add a couple of thousand words to Skyway, but spent most of the time re-writing The Homecoming Incident based on our Beta Reader feedback. The end result was a couple of hundred more words in total, but […]
I didn’t do it. I didn’t keep up my 1500 words a day. I tried, but the empty page glared back at me this week. My problems were three-fold. First and foremost, I was burned out. I have never written 1500 words a day in my life. Not solely toward a book. Sure, I probably […]
The first Gabby Wells novella, The Homecoming Incident, is in the hands of my first group of Beta Readers. Can’t wait to hear their responses, make the tweaks and send it to our second group of Beta Readers. I’m about one-third of the way through the first draft of the second novella titled Skyway. Not […]
Want to start writing or publishing novels? There are a lot of great websites out there to help new writers learn from experts and for starting publishers to get a feel on the marketplace. Here are a few that I’ve found helpful and the ones I visit most often. Alton Gansky – a successful Christian […]
Trying to determine the best path for a new novel series is like trying to find your way through a wild jungle with only a pocket knife at your disposal. When we look at how best to release our Gabby Wells novel series, we have extensively researched, evaluated the marketplace and have come up with […]
Jeff Strand, author of over 20 novels, including the highly successful Andrew Mayhem Series and A Bad Day for VooDoo shares his approach to his comedy-horror novels, the changes to distribution and his latest release, Dead Clown Barbecue. Many thanks to Jeff who suffered through a cold while recording the podcast. He’s a trooper. Enjoy the […]
A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller, by Declan Finn, is equal parts intriguing and frustrating. As a self-published novel, it is one or two professional edits away from being a top-notch thriller. A Pius Man is the first in a trilogy of books and deals with the threats against a newly elected Jesuit Pope and […]
The primary reason I am attracted to creating faith-based entertainment for young adults is because they have virtually no viable options that promote a healthy faith journey. Whether it be our Nikki & Babs DVD or our upcoming Gabby Wells novel series, I feel there is a growing need for young adult characters that are […]
Creating an effective marketing campaign means you have to work backwards. For our first book, Gabby Wells: Water & Blood, Dorothea and I met and had a brainstorming session over lunch, discussing all of the things that have to happen between now and the release of the book. As you can imagine, such a list […]
A few days ago we setup a green screen in my living room and shot some potential book cover shots for the five books in the Gabby Wells series. DC fooling around. I’m fortunate to have a photogenic daughter who also happens to have been instrumental in development of the Gabby Wells character. So, it […]
Welcome to my first podcast! During these podcasts we’ll have interviews with people in various areas of the publishing and entertainment industry, including both Christian and secular artists. I’m very excited to have Kari Burke with us on our first show. She’s a Catholic writer whose pro-life book The Life I Dreamed deals with the […]
Platform, by Michael Hyatt, is one of the most helpful books I’ve read in a long time. It guides you throw the process of creating a compelling product and how to use proven strategies to promote that product in the numerous social media outlets available to you. The “Platform” refers to rising you above the […]
One of the benefits of having worked in the entertainment industry in a variety of different positions is knowing how to create and edit a trailer. After mulling numerous ways to use a trailer to promote the first Gabby Wells book, we decided to use the hand-held camera/docu-drama approach. This should give it a sense […]
I believe we are all born with God’s fingerprint on our souls. What do I mean by this? I mean that, I believe God imbues every single one of us with a gift, a talent that is solely ours. For some it is artistic, such as writing, painting or performing. For others, it is mathematic, […]