Steampunk Fairy Tales: Volume 3 now available!

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Writing Articles

My Writing Table

When I first graduated from college, I wanted a huge desk. More like a table, really; I didn’t need drawers or anything like that, just a long, but narrow, workspace. I priced them, even at IKEA, and walked away shaking my head. Way too rich for my blood.

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5 More #PitMad YA Favorites

Last week, I wrote about five of my favorite #PitMad pitches. In this article, I give a little more info on what PitMad is and list five more equally great pitches that employ different techniques.

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5 Of My Favorite #PitMad YA Novel Pitches

Usually, after I wake up, I feed the doggies, let them out, pat them on the head, and get straight to freelance work. After just telling Leslie last week about how we need to get back to querying, I thought the #PitMad competition would be a good warm-up. I like the competition approach, because I prefer to submit to agents that have shown an iota of interest in our work more than cold querying.

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The “Free” Series: Free Books

You might think people are more likely to give positive reviews to a free book, but I don’t think that’s true. In fact, it can be hard to get any reviews, at all. After a few months of publication and thousands of downloads, less than ten people reviewed Steampunk Fairy Tales on Amazon.

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Self Publishing a Collection with other Authors

We recently contributed to the Steampunk Fairy Tales collection, which contains short stories from eight authors. In this article, I reflect on what it takes to go from idea to publication in three months.

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Curing The “I’ve Read My Manuscript Too Many Times” Blues

We’ve been editing and re-reading our manuscript for days now. Leslie is a machine; she can pour over the same words all day, every day, and make significant improvements. I, however, am weak. I’ve had a hard time contributing lately because all I see are negatives. But, this morning, I found a way to cure it.

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Analysis: Chapters Per Month (2015)

In 2015, we posted the full manuscript for Echo Chamber Heist to an online writing community. This article analyzes how long it took to post each chapter and how our writing strategy for 2016 has changed.

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Analysis: Chapters Per Critiquer (2015)

Last year, 65 critiquers gave feedback on Echo Chamber Heist in our online writing community. This article explores how many chapters each critiquer read and why people stopped reading when they did.

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Writing Between the Holidays (Thanks Shovel Knight!)

The Christmas parties are over, New Year’s parties are coming, and it’s time to get back into the swing of writing. However, my mind keeps wandering … I’m worn out from all of our recent travels and need some time to recharge. I want nothing more than to sit on my couch and play Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows. Normally I’d just try to force myself to focus, but sometimes, you have to make a compromise.

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Echo Chamber Heist: Full Manuscript Read Through

Last month, I put Echo Chamber Heist away for a few weeks so I could re-read it with fresh eyes. I didn’t get the whole way through, as holidays, work, a two-week uber cold, and a trip to Japan halted my progress. Still, I read a fair amount, and now can work through the most important edits with Leslie.

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