RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//My Friday Freakout and how even experienced authors have emotional crises about their books, along with insight on shaken baby syndrome in books, how interruptions cause issues, and Longshot: an underrated movie.
//On Sheryl Sandberg’s LEAN IN and great advice for women in business that’s given me insight into my own writing career, including keeping my eye on long-term and 18-month goals, and why I don’t love the heroine’s journey.
//Happy (almost) Mardi Gras! I’m talking planning author finances over the longer term, offering some predictions on the rise and (inevitable, eventual) decline of Romantasy, and looking at the 10 year anniversary of THE MARK OF THE TALA.
//More foreign rights news, this time Russian! Also a fun panel on Romantasy tomorrow at Beastly Books and Instagram Live. And thoughts on influencing social media algorithms being the new superstition.
//Fun news on covers and Italian rights – along with some info on how selling foreign rights works. Also, my recent experience with a published book contest and how negative comments can be devastating.
//A deep(ish) dive into my process today, to give an idea of how far down the intuitive writer spectrum I am. Also more on nuking the idea that slower = higher quality, and quieting the conscious mind to liberate the subconscious.
//The TWISTED MAGIC audiobook is live! Also sharing a call for authors influenced by Tanith Lee. And why I think classes teaching “plotting for pantsers” are damaging to intuitive writers, and other thoughts on process.
//
This week at the SFF Seven, we’re asking about book-related income that is specifically not from book sales.
There was an asterisk to that, specifying that the question was in relation to the Authors Guild 2023 Income Survey, which I didn’t read. (I have Opinions about that survey, which I won’t go into.) But I assume the question comes from the survey dividing author income into book-related and not, and the person asking is wondering what the “not” might be. It’s a good question because I’m a firm believer that long-term success in this fickle business relies on diversifying income streams.
I actually have a line on my income spreadsheets that says “Other Writing Income,” as opposed to the “Book Sales” line. What kind of income is that?
//Defining success, tips on how not to go crazy as a creator, why I think competition is bad for us, navigating toxic positivity, why being told “no,” AKA rejection, is so very good for us, and thinking about career paths long term.
//A few thoughts today on marketing, newsletters, why you can be like Enya and not HAVE to do anything, why empty, supposedly “Inspirational” sayings annoy me, and some thoughts on Brotopia by Emily Chang.
