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Fiction Branding… Part 7
What Exactly Is A Brand??? Well, the general definition of a brand is pretty easy. It is a product or service that is set out and apart in such a way as to be clear to the public that it can be distinguished from other similar products or services. It is also a mark you burn into a horse or cow to show ownership, but we won’t go there, even though the concept is the same. As I said before, most indie writers (not all) are pretty good and making a series of books identifiable as a unit. So a reader will know from the look (the branding) that the…
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These Workshops Have Started…
A Number of Classes Starting Up… These classes started yesterday or today on Teachable. Special Writing Twists (2nd Session… Only available through the Kickstarter) Special Writing Real-World Dark Fantasy (2nd Session… Only available through the Kickstarter) Second quarter of Creative Survival Second quarter of Motivational Monday #32… Apr 2nd… Heinlein’s Rules (this month only) #34… Apr 2nd… Writing into the Dark #35… Apr 2nd… Teams in Fiction #36… Apr 3rd… Writing with Depth (start with this one) #37… Apr 3rd… Applied Depth (this month only) #38… Apr 3rd… Advanced Depth #40… Apr 3rd… Killing the Critical Voice If interested, go to Teachable and hit see all classes and scroll until…
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Workshops You Might Want?
Taking Suggestions… If there is something you wish Kris and I would talk about over the spring and summer, let me know here in the comments or by private email. I know we had a lot of writers wanting the anthology workshop to come back and it is back now for August 5th through 8th here in Vegas. (Still some openings.) And we had a lot of questions about the novella classes and we are doing them. SF is starting later today at wmgwritersstore.com And yes I plan on finishing my branding series. But any other ideas that you really wish someone like me or Kris would talk about, feel…
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Novella Classes
First Novella Class Starts Tuesday… You can see the information for each 3-month class on WMGWriterStore.com The first class is Science Fiction Novellas. Nine weeks of classes and one month of writing. 4 different genres over the year. For more information, go to the writer store and watch the videos that Kris did about the classes. And the new quarters of Motivational Monday and Creative Survival have started. And April regular workshops are up as well. The second quarter of the year is a great time to reset, maybe start a challenge. Short story per week is a great challenge to get you to the computer every week. And if…
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Small Name Writers…
Something I Find Stunning… Readers buy book by not only what their front brain thinks of the sales copy and the cover, but more than that, readers (all of us) buy books because of subconscious clues. Clues like: —Cover art not professional — Cover art not to genre or book title impossible to read — Book sales copy dull and passive and gives too much plot away. — Book interior so poorly formatted as to be impossible to read. There are others, but one major clue that helps readers trust that the book is done by a professional and it will be entertaining is the size of the author name…
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April Regular Workshops…
Two Extra For Only This Month… For just this month, Heinlein’s Rules and Applied Depth are back as Regular workshops, meaning I will respond to assignments sent in on them. Only for April!! If you have a lifetime workshop and want to have assignments, just write me and I will get you the code to get into the April classes. Here is the April list of Regular Workshops and their start dates… #32… Apr 2nd… Heinlein’s Rules (this month only) #34… Apr 2nd… Writing into the Dark #35… Apr 2nd… Teams in Fiction #36… Apr 3rd… Writing with Depth (start with this one) #37… Apr 3rd… Applied Depth (this month…
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ANTHOLOGY WORKSHOP DETAILS…
Wow, Will This Be Fun! Those of you already signed up, no worries, I will be contacting you in a few weeks or so. But right now I wanted to let everyone know we have the editors all lined up. First let me tell you how this works. Months ahead of time, through me, the editors all send out guidelines for their anthologies. You have a deadline to write each story for each anthology. Usually one week.) All the editors read every story, even if the story is for another anthology. Then during the workshop all the editors up front comment on the story, usually a —“I really liked this…
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The Write Stuff Storybundle Launched…
Curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch This is an amazing group of writing books and one of our workshops in one Storybundle. Let me have Kris tell you about it. THE 2024 WRITE STUFF BUNDLE The 2024 Write Stuff Bundle – Curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Every year, I put together a bundle on writing. Every year, I find new concerns and ways to help writers market their work. I also find inspiration books on craft and keeping the faith as writers struggle with the blank page. This year’s bundle has four distinct elements. First, the all-important craft. J. Daniel Sawyer teaches you how to put words on the page…
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Publishing Masters Program At Western Colorado…
Yes, You Get a Real Masters in Publishing… This is the brain child of my good friend Kevin J. Anderson and it has been going now for six years. Sometimes I get to do a lecture for him on copyright, but this program is a year long for the students. One week in Western Colorado University in the summer and the rest online. And you get a real masters degree. Helping out Kevin is Allyson Longueira and Gwyneth Gibby, both from WMG Publishing. And also a ton of guest speakers along the way. For a ton more information on this, go to https://wordfire.com/publishing-masters-degree/ This is an amazing program, one of…
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Expanding Your Market…
Sell Dozens of Things vs One Thing… I will be talking about this concept some in the branding series, but because I had some comments and emails on this topic, I figured I would address it head-on. I have been talking about the future of indie publishing is Shopify stores. I got a couple of comments and four different emails pushing back on this and asking why I was feeling this way. Answer boils down to simple math, actually. Let’s say a writer has one series of 12 books and 12 short stories not in the series. 24 items to sell through Amazon, Kobo, D2D and the rest. Great. Not…