Defining the Author Objective

May 9, 2012 in General Topics

I’m taking one of Bob Mayer and Jen Talty’s workshops, offered on their website. One of the first things we were asked was to define our objective, our target endgame in our writing pursuits — something Bob commonly throws around as “Oz”. I’ve defined my Oz.

Initially, I defined that as connecting with the readers, building a base, and achieving financial success. But you can really shorten my path down the yellow brick road to one goal. Read the rest of this entry →

An Object Lesson in Politics and Authors

May 1, 2012 in General Topics

As if to illustrate a broader point about the dangers of politicizing one’s brand, along comes Stephen King’s recent article imploring the government to raise his taxes. Read the rest of this entry →

The Tyrant Strategy and The Target Audience

April 24, 2012 in General Topics

Let’s talk target markets, by talking about The Tyrant Strategy. Image Credit: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I was conceptualizing this trilogy of fiction books (Part 1 coming this fall, kids!), I realized early on that I wanted to write for people who didn’t know they liked science fiction. I wanted an accessible military sci-fi epic with an emphasis on characters.

I wanted some extraordinary characters, but also ample heapings of regular folks that were meshed inextricably, and at times unwillingly, into the process of history being made — of the world changing. And these characters came from all walks of life. What’s crazy is how readily these characters overlap with my target audience. Read the rest of this entry →

I Can’t Believe You Tweeted That (Part 2)

April 16, 2012 in General Topics

Last Friday I touched on the importance of quality tweets, as well as the danger of straying into potentially divisive subjects when you, the author, should be focused on bringing people together. Today, we’ll wrap up this look at questionable Twitter habits with two other types of problematic tweets. Read the rest of this entry →

I Can’t Believe You Tweeted That (Part 1)

April 11, 2012 in General Topics

We expect feedback and criticism from readers, even though the vast majority aren’t experienced writers. In a similar vein, while I’m new to Twitter (February of this year, I kid you not), I know enough from a professional background to question if certain kinds of tweets are really the best use of an author’s time. Read the rest of this entry →