Sometimes, readers fall in love with a writer’s characters. It’s hard to say who the reader falls in love with, actually. Sometimes a character becomes imbued with bits and pieces of an author—the author’s quick sense of humor, his or her sense of honor, or the author’s eloquence.
As authors we have to figure out ways to keep the reader interested, keep them eager to come back to our world and visit our characters once again.
When you begin to write a series, there are a number of strategies that you can adopt. Each has some advantages, and each has some pitfalls. It reminds me of the story of a traveler years ago who was getting ready to take a long dirt road that was filled with ruts. A sign at the beginning of the dirt road said, “Choose your rut wisely. You’ll be in it for the next 22 miles.”
When you put out the first novel in your series, you’re trying to get two things—a large number of sales, and a high velocity. In other words, the booksellers are always looking for something that’s “hot.”
When you write a series, under ideal conditions you can get some traction with your books and build toward hitting the New York Times Bestseller’s list. In order to hit #1 on the list, you need to do a few things:
Every week or two, someone asks me whether their first novel should be a standalone or if they should begin a series. The answer to
From the time when children first began gathering around campfires, we have been seeking tales of wonder–the feeling you get when something is strange and
You may have heard of pinch points. Or not. I’d guess that most fiction writers have no clue what they are or why they’re so
Mastering the Art of Writing Irresistible Romance Romance is one of the largest selling genres of all time. Yet, it often gets overlooked or seen
Captivating your reader’s attention and submerging them deep inside the story world is one of the universal goals for writing hooks. We want our readers
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