Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 5: Taking the Challenge
When I got my first writing contract from Bantam Books, I had two problems. One was my health. I was still fighting off my chronic fatigue syndrome. The second problem was that I had never written a complete novel. Sure, I’d written a dozen short stories and I’d started four novels, but I’d never figured out how […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 4: Writing Discipleship
When I switched my major from medicine to “Editing” at BYU, I really decided to immerse myself in my writing. Now, I don’t want you to think that I gave up on everything else. I had other artistic interests. I had always been good at sculpting, had studied photography, and I was interested in oil […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 3: Studies
As a young writer, I had a lot of doubts. Perhaps foremost was the problem that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Like most teens, I spent a lot of time . . . trying to figure it out. My father really wanted me to take over the family business. […]
Writing A Bestselling Book Series, Chapter 2: Hooked On Writing
I’m not sure exactly when I got hooked on writing. As a child I began experimenting with drawing pictures and adding a few words of story to them, as many children do. At the age of 9, I wrote a little poem about Halloween and drew a picture to go with it. My schoolteacher showed […]
Writing a Bestselling Book Series, Chapter 1
Frequently I’m asked, “How do you write a novel series?” and I’m left to flounder for words. You see, I know what they really want. They don’t want to know just how to write a series. Any fool can do that, and a lot of them try. There is no sense in writing a series […]
Audience Analysis: Part One
How to get to know your audience As a new writer, you might not have given a great deal of thought to audience analysis. I’ve known good writers who don’t seem to understand it at all. For example, one #1 New York Times Bestselling fantasy author right now insists that he doesn’t write fantasy. He […]
How to Make a Million Dollars with Your Writing
Million Dollar Outlines A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in IndieReCon, a free online writers’ conference for self-published authors. I did a Google Hangout with Ali (our first time ever, there was a steep learning curve!) and talked about my thoughts on how to write a bestselling novel that will make […]
