Photo by Charlie Read on Unsplash Part of self-publishing's joy is the author's complete control over every aspect of their novel's publication: Content. Title. Cover Design. Etc. Part of self-publishing's frustration is also the complete control an author has over every aspect of their novel's publication. There's a lot to do and learn. One essential item is the book description (or book blurb). This information is listed on Amazon or other retailers, giving potential readers an idea of whether a book will interest them. As self-published authors, it can be challenging to write this effectively because we either want to hold back as much information as possible, so we don't spoil the story, or we enter too much information into it because otherwise, we feel the description will not make sense. For over a decade of self-publishing, I've had some bad and good descriptions. What I've learned reads best is to follow some of these simple rules: Keep th
In late July/early August 2022, I had that nagging feeling pop into my head for a story. The first part involved a mash-up of a murder mystery mixed with some sci-fi intrigue. Sometimes, those types of thoughts are fleeting. But this one stuck with me. I started working out a plot for the story. Then characters. Back story. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And all of this bounced around in my brain without a single thought put in writing. Then, in mid-August, I put my thoughts to paper (more like a computer screen). First, I fleshed out the back story. Next, I provided more detail about the main characters. Then, chapter by chapter, I outlined how the entire story would unfold. It may have been a month or two of getting that all in line before I started writing the novel properly. As it stands now, I currently finished chapter eight. As it usually goes with the writing process, things have changed. Finishing chapter eight is actually finishing chapter eleven of the original outline. I