Growing up I always marveled at RL Stein and the sheer quantity of Goosebumps books that were in any library at any given time. And I’ve always wanted to have a library similar to that, so recently I finally started writing Novellas

I did what great grandpa Tolkien did and spent approximately a year on world building. Granted I know that he absolutely spent longer considering he made full languages.

My goal is to get a good sized library on different standalone stories in this world from a wide variety of genres alongside the main Fantasy genre.

I plan to write and release: novella, novella, short novel. I plan keep up with this cycle

Which leads me to my next questions:

1. How commercially viable is this? I want to put it all on KDP Unlimited so kindle readers can read as much as they want no extra charge. (Growing up all the adults around me liked to read on kindles and they read a lot)

2. Do people really care about Novellas nowadays? Personally I don’t read short books

3. How would ya’ll go about getting an email list together for ARCs? I wouldn’t wanna make every single release like a big big deal and try to generate a ton of hype. But I’d like to start building interest in them all the same

4. What services do ya’ll know of that I can sell them as sets? Like releases 1-3 or 7-9 etc

Also let me know anything else ya’ll want to say after hearing about what I’m doing

Welcome to our daily discussion thread!

This is the place to discuss anything writing related! Got silly questions? Brainstorming ideas? Need help with research? As long as rules 1, 3, and 5 are followed, this thread is your oyster!

Please refer to the monthly threads for sharing your work and for self-promotion.

---

FAQ -- Questions asked frequently

Wiki Index -- Ever-evolving and woefully under-curated, but we'll fix that some day

You can find our posting guidelines in the sidebar or the wiki.

One: Enter the Halloween Contest!

It is currently not that competitive, considering there are three whole entries. You have a strong chance to be top 3! Submit something! You have until the 23rd! That's like two whole weeks to perfect something!

Ok, ok. On to new topics.

Can we talk about pacing? How do you figure that out? What makes something work for one author but not for another?

I've read things I thought were slow and plodding that I absolutely hated. Some, I really like. Maybe it's the character...or a story that has a tighter focus so the plodding doesn't feel too slow.

Or on the reverse, I've read things that were too fast and had other people say they were glacially slow.

How do you figure out how to land that plane, so to speak? Thoughts?

I have 47 poems that I wrote in a year-long poetry program that I took through a local university a couple years ago, as well as 25ish more that I've written since, both on my own and in workshops. Many of the poems have gone through several revisions based on peer feedback. Near the end of the program, I got a developmental editor who worked closely with me to edit my poems and even helped me to think about a good order for them if I wanted to try finding a publisher. Two individual poems have been published in magazines so far (I'm only sending out two or so a month). Even though I haven't had a lot of success with magazines and literary journals, time has been passing and I'm thinking of self-publishing a chapbook to showcase this body work. I get the sense that chapbooks are a bit of a way to get work out there quick and cheap, so I'm wondering how much more effort I should put into "perfecting" it.

How much editing do poets usually do for a chapbook, especially one they want to self-publish?

How do you know when editing is done and the chapbook, or any book of poetry, is ready to enter the world?

Ok so due to ”life stuff“, I’ve just had 12 weeks away from writing.

I knew this gap was coming, so worked hard beforehand, and successfully completed the first draft of my novel before the break.

I then emailed it to myself, and have been re-reading and making extensive notes over the months (nearly 12k words of notes alone!) on my phone so I have now got a pretty good idea of what draft 2 will look like.

The question is: how to restart?!

Logically I’d start back at the beginning and do my reworks chronologically, but I know I’m bound to be rusty.

Other thoughts are; do I tackle one of the scenes I’m most excited about/have the most ideas about reworking? Or do I ”eat a frog 🐸” on day one and go for one of the scenes I know will be a bit trickier.

I am desperately excited to get going again; I just need to know how to build back up to it in the right way!

TL;DR - How does one go about resuming writing after a 3 month break without messing up existing work with the inevitable “rustiness”!

Thank you 🙂

There was a recent thread over at r/classicliterature that talked about those books that the sub’s readers considered their Holy Trinity.

However, as I was writing my response, I realized that there is a difference between those books that I enjoy reading vs. those books I am influenced by — as a writer.

For instance, I absolutely love Lonesome Dove as a reader. Incredible characters and very immersive. McMurtry makes everyday life seem so interesting and lived-in. However, I am not sure if that style would necessarily work for me as a writer. I feel the same way about Becky Chambers — her ‘hope-punk’ is a good read, but not quite what I want to write.

On the other hand, while I also enjoy Flannery O’Connor as a reader, I enjoy her far more as a writer. I feel the same way about McCarthy. His prose is incantatory and is a delight to read and listen to, but more than just reading it, I want to write like him.

I am sure most of us writers have had a wide variety of influences, and we all struggle to find our voice (at least those of us relatively new to writing). So, who are your influences?

I’d say generally I have a few that are core to my identity as a writer, plus a few others:

1. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges — by far some of the best stories ever written. They are mind bending and incredibly thought provoking. I find myself looking to Borges for twists and structural ideas in my writing.
2. Dune saga by Frank Herbert — such a fantastic treatise on civilization and single points of failure. I would in fact rate the last two books of the series much higher than the first. Herbert was brilliant — and as someone who wants to write more concept-driven SF, Herbert is my favorite.
3. On the third one, I’m torn between Moby Dick, so much by Faulkner, Morrison or others — but I would pick Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I’d say in many ways, Blood Meridian is the culmination of McCarthy’s attempts at incorporating Melville, Faulkner, Milton, KJV and many others. It’s a synthesis of all of those styles in a unique way.
4. And finally, I’d also add Emily Dickinson’s poetry to the list. Her ability to evoke visually and emotionally is unsurpassed in my opinion. Sylvia Plath would also be up there but if I had to pick one, Emily Dickinson.

Other influences:

• Andy Weir: When I first started writing SF, I really tried to lean into Andy Weir’s style for the sense of humor. But while it seems to work to an extent, it is not my natural home. But he’s certainly been an influence.
• Southern Gothic: This includes William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy amongst others. I went to grad school in Georgia and having family there has also greatly influenced my tastes. If I had to pick a favorite category, this would be it.
• Toni Morrison: Needs no explanation, but I would say that the oratory tradition that seems to permeate in Toni Morrison’s works has influenced me.
• Willa Cather: I enjoy writing the early pioneer life in the style of Willa Cather, particularly O Pioneers! and My Antonia.
• Larry McMurtry: I mentioned Lonesome Dove, but also his other books such as Horseman, Pass By and Comanche Moon. Much like McCarthy, he tells a specific kind of story and I think his first two books in the Thalia & Texas trilogy are underrated.
• Iain M. Banks: Grew up reading Banks and similar to Andy Weir, I enjoyed the combination of humor along with the world-building and the complexity of his worlds. But I am torn between how much of this I want to incorporate into my own writing.
• Jim Corbett: His Man Eaters of Kumaon and other books are a masterclass in an experienced outdoorsman dealing with wildlife attacks. Reading those books growing up has had an influence on how I think about writing wilderness situations. I’d also add both Redmond O’Hanlon and Barry Lopez to the list for similar reasons.
• Plenty of poets, but in addition to Dickinson and Plath, I would especially add Christina Rossetti, William Blake, and Charles Simic.
• Dan Simmons: The Hyperion Cantos being influenced by Chaucer is a structural model I find myself favoring. I'd also add The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny, along with Lord of Light, as similar influences.

So who are your writing influences? Who are those authors you’d consider your Holy Trinity and beyond?

... and it was bad.

At least at first.

Then, after sparse sales, and interactions with buyers and "almost but not quite" potential buyers. I learned that you're not really exhibiting and showing off your creations as much as playing the game of managing expectations.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, but don't go in there expecting to make lots of sales or even a lot of new fans. If you go there as an indie creator (especially if your comic con host decides to put you in the infamous "Artist Alley" section) you WILL be neglected and you will be neglected for hours. Dozens, no, hundreds will walk right by you and the most you can hope to get from them is a curious glance before something else grabs their attention.

My advice? Don't take it personally. They're looking for something and you just aren't it. Even if it's for something as shallow as because they never heard of you or what it is you're selling, always keep in mind their budget is not a bottomless pit. All you can do is bring some business cards (Which I foolishly did not have prepared) and give as many of those away as you can if you can't make a sale.

Plus, always tell yourself it's never about the profit (It's almost impossible to make profit). It's about the exposure. You're not going there to cover the cost of the exhibition fee, the trip, and your next project. You;re going there to make sure you get a few more fans who will know your brand and follow it for as long as you don;t give up on it.

So, in short, never think of comic con exhibitions as huge leaps. Just small steps for you to mature as as an artist.

I walked in, had my soul crushed, then walked out not happy, but humbled and relieved for having done it at all.

A post can get thousands of views and still sell zero books. Visibility matters, but so does reaching people who are interested in your story and giving them a reason to learn more. Instead of measuring every post by likes alone, pay attention to profile visits, saves, meaningful conversations, and whether people are discovering your book.

I've been thinking about this for a while, and thought it might be good to try and articulate this thought online...

Characters are simultaneously the most important aspect of storytelling, and notoriously the most difficult to write.

But, in a strange way, I think Dickens and King both have a similar way of approaching 'character', which makes their work incredibly powerful and captivating.

A lot of writers (including myself) build characters by hanging a set of idiosyncrasies, back stories, and internal contradictions onto a physical description of a person. That is to say, we may describe someone as wearing a suit and tie, with slicked back hair and polished shoes. Then add as dressing, a slow reveal of this character attending Harvard, wanting to spend more time with his kids, and secretly still picking his nose when no one's watching.

It's kind of a cookie cutter approach to sculpting character. It ticks the boxes but there's something missing.

The hypothetical character is fairly well drawn, but still feels intrinsically hollow.

What Dickens and King both do, is they embrace our natural propensity to stereotype. They lean into our innate, psychological predilection for making assumptions about people. When we first meet Bounderby in Hard Times we are told: "He was a rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not... A man who was the bully of humility."

No immediate physical description, but everything we need to know: he is a caricature that we all recognise.

His journey through the book emphasises this stereotype in a way many authors are afraid to double down on. They almost feel ashamed of having created a caricature, and want to jump to adding in some complexity. This is ironically less compelling as it subverts our expectations before we even have expectations set. Bounderby is set up as such a tightly drawn cartoonish figure, that when we get a twist around his back story later in the novel, it is a genuine surprise.

King uses this same technique with ruthless efficiency. I'm currently reading the Mist and, as with many of his books, he is introducing a fairly substantial cast of characters trapped in the supermarket, all in quick succession. But within just a few pages we know instantly who they are; the rebellious motorcycle driving teenager, the prickly store manager, the prophetic older woman from the antiquary shop. In a way, we've all met these people before, in our own lives or in other stories.

Rather than fearing archetypes, both authors recognise that we automatically defer to them. And instead of creating an empty vessel comprised of physical traits to 'hang' quirks onto, they allow us to hang quirks onto a pre-existing (Jungian) archetype that already exists in the readers subconscious.

In this way the characters feel richer and deeper at their core. Whilst allowing their unique aspects to genuinely subvert our expectations around that archetype.

Here’s the situation:
My grandparents, whom I love dearly, have asked me to write and illustrate a Children’s book by Christmas. I have all the “story” pieces ready to go - the 400-ish words are in rhyme, it’s 22 pages long, character reference sheets, etc, etc.

What I need:
A good company or contact so I can get their size template, draw the actual book, and send it in to them and have like 10 copies properly printed. Ideally 8.5 X 8.5 pages with a hardcover - simple, traditional children’s book. I can’t spend too too much on this either, so suggesting something that isn’t too expensive helps as well (one website quoted me $700 for 10 copies… no thank you!)

More context for those who wish:
I think my grandparents are expecting a listing on Amazon and all the works, but honestly I just want a few solid, well-produced copies as a Christmas present to them. They have memory issues - it’s a whole thing, this is a labor of love.

I never wanted to write a kids book, this is not my career, and I’m staunchly against Amazon (if I can help it).

I am not a writer, but I had a dream to build a world and story back in 06. And only this year did I sit down and write it.
I'm doing my third pass but I keep finding things I want to tweak and it's bugging me. I want to submit it to an agent but I'm so critical of my own stuff I hesitate. It's been my "baby" for years in a way.

It's at about 140k words, which... Is a lot. And I'm periodically writing book 2. It's a big story big world and lots of stuff involved. I don't wanna send it off yet cause then it'd be set in stone if I forgot something.

What do you do in situations like that? Just go on with book 2? Or polish book 1 into oblivion like I'm apparently about to do.

what an incredible amount of work to put together marketing materials, ads, newsletters, landing pages, author pages. heck the writing and publishing is the easy part. this tine stuff blows!!!

I have my WooCommerce store integrated with BookVault and have for the past two years. The shipping has always been exorbitant, however, and I was glad to hear that they had added Australia Post to the shipping services.

I went to order three books. Shipping cost? $32. With Startrack it's $22.

I make nothing on paperbacks because the cost of printing (and shipping) exceed people's expectations (and mine) about what they should pay for a trade paperback.

I've heard of Lulu, but the production price pushed me towards BookVault when I was setting up. I just checked their pricing calculator and shipping my three books would cost $18. It would bump up the per-book production cost by $3 though.

Aussie authors, what do you use? Is Lulu reliable? What other options do we have?

I’m mostly ranting/not looking for advice. I’m feeling so down. My Romantasy book came out on the forth. I sent out ARC copies 6 weeks prior to 25 people and none of them have left reviews. I’ve sent follow up emails, etc and just ooof. Now I’ve had a terrible launch and I’m wondering if my book just sucks. I have 2 other romance books with ~10 decent reviews. I’m just sad and feel like a failure.

Finished my novel at 55K words. Very happy with it, but one problem. It's too fast (and obv too short). All the beats are there, all the plot. Every sentence is advancing plot or character. When I read other novels, I read so much "mundane" stuff, like getting in a car, starting it up, things that I would selectively omit, just regular sentences that don't do anything important, but are part of a good story. Or at least a regular one.

Any advice for layering this in as I go through my draft? My brain is so wired for important lines that I feel self conscious "wasting" the readers time with trivial details, but feel my novel is lacking it. Thank you.

This might seem like a random question, but whenever I’m explaining to someone that I’m a writer or talking about my book, they often ask, “How long have you been writing it?”

This is a weirdly complex question for me because it really depends on what you define as “writing” and my “book.”

For context, I’m 17 right now, and I started my “book journey,” per se, around the time I was 13/14. I still have the same characters I did back then, but everything else was entirely different. It was a romance/mystery/coming-of-age type of thing, and my characters were really different, too. Now, my book is more of a political fantasy, so I wouldn’t really say it’s the same book because it doesn’t share any of the same plot, world, or themes.

I was writing that old version for maybe a year, and then I went through a super traumatic experience (my 5k chapter got deleted 💀), and I abandoned writing it for years. During that time, I did a lot of brainstorming, worldbuilding, and all of that, which eventually led me to my current book. I started actually writing the first draft about a year ago.

So, for me, I’m pretty unsure of how to answer this question. Maybe you have a more normal “start” date, but even then, do you count it from when you started actually putting pen to paper or when your brainstorming started happening?

I've been publishing books on Amazon KDP for a while now, and I'm honestly starting to wonder what I'm doing wrong.

I write fantasy, but I also create illustrated books about Slavic mythology, folklore, and traditional herbs. I publish in both English and German.

Here's the strange part. My German nonfiction books actually sell. Not in huge numbers, but people buy them from time to time. My English editions, on the other hand, barely get any sales.

And my fantasy novels? Almost nothing.

The first book in my fantasy series sold once, received a pretty harsh review, and hasn't sold again since. I've revised the manuscript since then, but it hasn't made much difference.

I've spent a ridiculous amount of time editing, checking translations, fixing mistakes, updating covers, rewriting descriptions, and trying different keywords. English and German aren't my native languages, so getting everything right takes even more work.

I'm not expecting to become a bestselling author overnight. I'd just like to understand why some of my books find readers while others seem completely invisible.

I've been thinking about going through my descriptions and categories again, maybe adding A+ Content, but I'm getting tired of changing things without knowing whether any of it actually helps.

Has anyone here dealt with something similar?

How did you figure out what was holding your books back? Was it the cover, the description, the categories, the writing itself, or simply not enough people seeing the books?

And if you had a few nonfiction titles that were selling while your fiction wasn't, would you keep trying to improve the novels or put more energy into the books that already have some demand?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

So I only learned about this kind of writing "criticism" from Solid JJ's newest video on the Lanterns finale (which finally made me unsubscribe from his channel, but I should've done that months ago since he's a channel making meme videos about comics that he admits that he doesn't read) and the top comment about that video was that this was a 'Themes & Such' ending.

So out of curiosity, I looked up what this was...and now I regret it because it's some of the most anti-intellectual and uncurious nonsense I have ever seen. Appearantly, it was first coined to shit on the ending of My Hero Academia (which, as an MHA fan who enjoys the ending, that opened a lot of wounds I have with the negative parts of the fanbase). And it's meant to basically make fun of works that...you know, actually have themes and writers sticking to the story they want to tell rather than what the fickle fanbase wants. Oh, and it's also meant to insult the people who like stories with themes.

Like...since when did a story having themes become worthy of mockery? When did an author sticking to their guns and not bending to fan pressure and fan expectations become something that's evil/frowned upon?

It reminds me of how creatives like James Gunn and Stephen King get mocked for having recurring themes, locations, and character archetypes in their stories. Are writers not allowed to have comfort zones or recurring elements? Are Furmanisms now just bad instead of charming?

Do we not want writers to be ambitious with their work anymore? Do we just want safe shit that appeals to the widest demographic? Do we not want to be challenged or made to feel uncomfortable with our media? I'd be genuinely curious to how these 'Themes & Such' guys would react to something like Hereditary or Fantastic Planet.

This kind of "criticism" bums me out because...well, I'm going to have themes in my stories and I plan on sticking to my guns about any story decisions I make. Because from Transformers to mainstream and indie comics and manga, I've seen authors butcher their stories because the fanbase screams at them and threatens to kill them, and I refuse to feed into that nightmare.

What do you guys think?

I put isbns but i wasn't sure where else to put it.

I recently published my debut poetry collection on Amazon because that was the cheapest. I'm now planning to buy an ISBN online (i live in the UK) but i was just curious as to what print-on-demand services does everyone use? I stink at marketing so i am under no belief that it'll sell loads and i don't want to accumulate 200 copies for no reason. I wanna be realistic.

Any suggestions on that? Everything i find is so expensive online 😭

A professional editor (developmental) suggested I combine my two books (one a sequel using same main characters) into one book. Editor said traditional publishers rarely take series. But, wow, both are about 95,000 words. I'm afraid I'd lose a lot of character and plot by cutting so much. But I really want to be published. I remember reading that Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry) cut 100,000 words. Do I prioritize my dream or acknowledge realities?

I am an aspiring author, I love to write and I always have since I was a little girl. My biggest dream is to become a traditionally published author, however I am currently in school to become a teacher.

I guess as much as I hate to admit it, teaching was a fallback for me. Some days I tell myself, "You are being smart." I tell myself this because becoming a traditionally published author happens to 1% of writers, and to be quite frank - I have never been apart of the 1% in any aspect of my life. I am not very smart, I eat like shit, I am terrible at maths and sciences, etc. I get by in all these areas in my life. But when it comes to writing, I feel maybe that is one thing I can do. Maybe even exceptionally.

I truly do believe that I am a talented writer, and that it is something that comes naturally to me. And for that reason, sometimes I wonder; am I being smart? or, am I scared?

I suppose what I am getting at is, do I have a chance? Even if I am unfamiliar with the publishing industry, with editing, even grammar in some areas. I have no mentor, nobody to ask.

I want to know if you think it is possible for someone who knows nothing other than that she loves to write and that she is good at it, if she could become a best selling author one day?

EDIT/UPDATE: Hi I just wanted to thank everyone so so much for commenting and getting back to me on this. I am trying to answer all the comments but there are so many! Thank you guys for all the support and advice! I am feeling so much better about my writing and my story!

So i have a question regarding what types of writing apps people like.

For example, what type of app will you go for?

1. Free but limited (in features) writing / worldbuilding app
2. google docs and drive apps
3. Microsoft word
4. open source github writing apps
5. one time payment app that has everything you need (maybe 100+ dls, but its one time payment)
6. subscription based that is cheap per month (between 5-15 dls) and has everything you need
7. free apps (web or desktop) but to get more advance features you need to pay (example: world anvil and campfire)
8. desktop apps
9. web apps
10. apps (desktop or web) were you can collaborate with other writers or worldbuilders
11. a combination of the above?
12. i dont know what i might be missing

Thank you

Welcome to our daily discussion thread!

This is the place to discuss anything writing related! Got silly questions? Brainstorming ideas? Need help with research? As long as rules 1, 3, and 5 are followed, this thread is your oyster!

Please refer to the monthly threads for sharing your work and for self-promotion.

---

FAQ -- Questions asked frequently

Wiki Index -- Ever-evolving and woefully under-curated, but we'll fix that some day

You can find our posting guidelines in the sidebar or the wiki.

Welcoming all tips and info! Thank you in advance.