The rise of AI-generated books is sparking concern among many. We all know the book market is huge, yet the speed at which new works are being added prompted Amazon to place a ‘3 books per day’ upload limit. I think we all agree that’s more than a little worrying.

It’s frustrating, too. Vying for a reader’s attention has always been challenging, but this new competition has some authors fearing it will soon become too hard (and expensive) to grab the reader’s attention. Dread rises in the form of a question: in this widening sea of books, what are my chances of being found and read?

It’s easy to give over to anger and depression when things change, especially when it feels unfair and unjust. But as authors have always done, we must use our emotions to fuel transformation.

The board has changed. It’s time to change with it.

We’ve weathered disruptions in the book industry before, and while AI is reshaping all industries, as people, one of our biggest strengths is our ability to adapt. Marketing will become more challenging for authors, but we can use our human edge to come out on top. It’s time for us to push ourselves and leverage our strengths, showing readers we have much more to offer them than machines.

Let’s talk about how we do it.

1. Write an amazing book.

Seems sort of obvious, right? Sure, but the real message here is that AI books will only get better in time, so we must continue widening the gap. Readers will have many choices on what to read so our books should be exceptional. To date, many authors have focused on volume to make a living, but moving forward, writing better books will become as important (if not more).

Amazing books in the age of AI should contain something else, too: emotion, insight, and depth rooted in human experience. This is something that machines can’t replicate (although they will try). As humans, we understand how isolating life can be when we experience certain things that stir deep emotions, struggles, insecurities, and vulnerabilities. Who better than us to create authentic characters that our readers can truly relate to and connect with? (Read: How to Leverage Humanity in Stories to Outshine AI.)

2. Embrace authenticity, building trust and connection.

AI isn’t only impacting the book industry–it’s everywhere, with readers being as exposed to it as us. AI curates searches at Google, chatbots claim the bottom right corner of every website. Meta AI bots piss everyone off with their uncanny ability to ignore hate speech but flag that cute picture of someone’s cat as harmful and inappropriate.

Fake social profiles. AI-generated images everywhere.
Every third ad is a new AI tool or service.

It’s the gold rush of AI, but guess what follows? Saturation. People get sick of all things manufactured, simulated, and fake. It’s early still, but a looming saturation is coming. Authors should be ready because, in an increasingly artificial world, people will crave one thing above all else: Authenticity. They will be drawn to human presences, voices, and interactions.

This is an incredible opportunity for authors. By recognizing the universal need for authenticity and connection, they can draw their potential readers in by being someone who shares their human side!

Go deeper with your interactions with readers. Think about points of common ground: What experiences do you and your readers share? Which of your thoughts and perceptions will resonate, making them feel seen and heard? How can you share anecdotes, ideas, sparks of humor, and bits of your personal life alongside discussions about your creative work? What topics and themes in your book suggest areas of common interest? Start some conversations.

It might take practice, but being open and authentic can turn readers into lifelong fans…of you. These relationships are incredible–knowing people are in our corner sustains us when life gets hard. Too, not only will devout readers look forward to the next book, but they’ll want others to discover your books, too.

3. Create a “clubhouse” for your readers.

Adding to the point above, I have always believed marketing is about relationships, not sales. We build strong relationships by caring about others, making them feel valued, and giving them something they need. When this is done right, sales follow naturally.

It’s great to use social media as a way to find potential readers and connect with them, but trying to be everywhere at once is overwhelming. People can become fatigued by social media too. This is why thinking about creating a meeting spot away from the noise of the online world can be a great way to forge meaningful bonds with readers.

Your “clubhouse” can be anything that works for you: an online community or group, a personal newsletter or Substack, a private forum attached to your site, etc. Whatever your clubhouse looks like, don’t bombard folks with promotion. These people aren’t dollar signs and trust me, AI will be targeting them everywhere, trying to sell, sell, sell. So be different. Focus on the relationship: share content they’ll like, ask and answer questions. If you’re communicating through a newsletter, be the person they are always happy to hear from! Your clubhouse should make people feel seen, cared about, and valued.

4. Think we, not me.

As the fight over a reader’s attention heats up even further, we may think we need to isolate ourselves from other authors because they are our competition. Not so. Human authors are our allies.

No matter how well you write or how big your audience is, you only have a sliver of the potential reading audience. Authors with similar books also have loyal readers, and many are different from your own. Collaborating with authors who write similar, high-quality books can be a win for you both as you’ll each reach new people.

Collaboration is about more than sharing audiences—it’s about creating a sense of camaraderie. Readers will notice and appreciate authors who prioritize relationships over sales pitches. Too, every author has unique experiences, ideas, knowledge, and connections. Joining forces with other authors and sharing what you each know means less trial and error.

5. Educate yourself and watch for scams.

Whenever there’s a disruption, people look for opportunities to monetize whatever has changed. Part of thriving as an author will be staying informed and watching for profiteers selling “easy solutions.”

Self-publishing created a ramp-up in vanity presses, predatory promotional and editing services, and low-skill freelancers looking to bleed authors of their cash. This era of AI will be the same.

If you need AI solutions for marketing, research before investing in courses, ad services, or tools. Look to trusted industry leaders like Jane Friedman, David Gaughran, or the Alliance of Independent Authors for guidance. Don’t fall for pressure tactics, FOMO, or fear-based marketing. And remember, if someone is selling something that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

One area to be especially cautious of is Ads. As the book market becomes increasingly huge, pay-to-play platforms (Meta, Amazon, etc.) are the real winners as people run ads (or more ads) to gain visibility. Likely we’ll see a rise in ‘Ad experts’ pitching their company to run your ads or use their AI tools and platform solutions. Some may be a good investment. Others will drain your pockets. Investigate and talk to other authors. Make sure the ROI is clear.

6. Decide how (and if) you’ll use AI as an author.

AI is a threat and a tool. Creatives (and folks in other industries who had their content scraped without content) are rightfully upset about AI. But it’s here to stay so we will all need to eventually decide if (and how) we’ll use it. This is a moral question and a practical one.

You may decide that while you’re morally opposed to using it to write, you use AI solutions to help you with other tasks–researching, marketing, time management, whatever. Or you are a firm no. But whether you use it or not, it’s important to understand how others are incorporating it, and the impacts this may have on our business.

The Key to Thriving:
Using Your Humanity

AI may be here to stay, but so are authors. We can’t control AI’s disruption over our industry, only how we respond. By focusing on what makes us uniquely human, we can create stories that resonate far more deeply than AI-generated books. Best of all, by simply being ourselves, we can forge genuine connections with readers and fulfill a universal longing for authenticity—an ironic consequence of the rise of AI.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How Authors Thrive in a World of AI-Generated Books appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Welcome to 2025…and say hello to a brand new Writers Helping Writers® bookstore!

Like many other authors, Becca and I have switched to a Shopify storefront so we can provide a better experience for everyone wanting to buy direct.

We’re excited about this upgraded storefront, both for the flexibility to eventually branch out to offer things beyond books –workshops, on-demand webinars, packets, etc.– and the fact that it is a vast improvement over the system we’ve had to use to date.

But first, what does “Buy Direct” mean?

Buying direct means instead of purchasing a book from an etailer like Amazon, Kobo, or Apple (who take a big chunk of each sale) you buy from the author’s website. This helps the author because when more book revenue lands in their pocket, they’re closer to making a livable wage. And when they do, it gives them the freedom to write more books, offer discounts, and more. So buying direct is a win-win for the author and readers.

But buying direct also has other benefits, like…

Buying Direct can better protect your books

A problem with buying a digital copy from someone like Amazon is they have control over that book file, not you. If it disappears from your Kindle library due to a glitch, syncing issue, or because they decided you did something wrong, getting it restored can be hard (or impossible). When you buy a digital book from our store, our partner Bookfunnel always keeps your book safe and accessible. You own the book.

Buying Direct means early access

Our bookstore will allow us to offer new releases before they are available elsewhere. Often Becca and I have a new book in hand for weeks prior to a book launch but we have to wait for the official release date. Now, we can pop a new guide into our store when it’s ready and minimize waiting.

Buying Direct keeps you in the loop (and saves you $$$)

Right now our store is set up to offer digital formats (ebook and PDF), but print is coming! And we’re looking to expand to other things as well. If you sign up for store notifications we’ll pop a quick message into your inbox whenever a cost-saving bundle, special workshop, on-demand webinar, discount, or something else becomes available. (But that’s it–no ‘hard sell’ stuff. That’s not us.)

Buying direct is a great way to support an author you care about, and Becca and I want to thank you for considering our Writers Helping Writers Bookstore when you’re looking for writing help. Thank you!

So, ready to check out our new store?

Visit the link above and take this celebratory discount code with you: WHWTHANKSYOU

This one-time code is a buy one, get the second ebook single at a 50% discount. You’ll see a place to enter the code when you checkout. (And a tippy tip: if you sign up for store notifications, you’ll get a bonus code that discounts your entire order a further 10%!) Add that second code at checkout to use both in the same order.

We’d also love your feedback. We’re just getting stared and have improvements in mind, but you guys are the pros here. You know what you need to see when deciding to buy a book, and we’d love your ideas on what might make this store better. If you’d like to leave us impressions or suggestions, zip over here. (It’s anonymous.) And thank you!

Don’t forget to redeem your buy one, get one code by January 15th, 2025, and happy writing!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Meet Our New Bookstore (& Save 50% off a Thesaurus!) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

I feel so fortunate to be working in this industry. Running my own business, despite the headaches it brings—say, around tax time *twitch*—gives me so much freedom. I also get personal satisfaction from knowing I’m doing something really hard and am stretching myself to learn new things all the time.

But one of the best things about being a writer is all the ways I get to give back. Angela and I are fairly intentional about this, and one of things we decided early on was we wanted to donate some of our proceeds to deserving charities and nonprofits. You can see a list of past recipients here.

This year, we were excited to watch the professional evolution of one of our writer friends. Talk about doing hard stuff and stretching! After 13 years in publishing, Shayla Hale (formerly Shayla Raquel) put away her pen to start Crime & Compassion Inc., a nonprofit that advocates for the incarcerated. She runs a podcast now, as well as teaching fiction writing at a women’s prison in Oklahoma.

Her story, and what she’s doing now, is so interesting and inspiring that we wanted to share some of it with you. Read on to learn more about how Shayla parlayed a love of literature into a ministry to the incarcerated.

Shayla, tell us more about your work with the women at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center.

Crime & Compassion Inc. offers an advanced fiction writing class called the Writers Guild, aptly named by the MBCC students themselves. There are 15 students in the class, and we meet twice a month in the chapel to learn all about novel writing.

To complete the class, the student must write, rewrite, and publish a full-length novel. And let me tell you: these women are working nonstop on their books. They are super dedicated, always grateful, and ridiculously talented. One student, who is a co-facilitator for our class, will be publishing her novel soon, as she just finished it and is going through the rewriting process.

The novels will be self-published under their names, and the students will own the rights to their books, as they should. These women encourage each other and give feedback too. It’s a community they have built, and I cannot wait to offer more classes (as we have a waiting list). 

What prompted you to shift from writing and publishing fiction to creating and running a nonprofit?

I’ve been saying for a while now, “I left the publishing industry so I could come back in a whole different light.”

I’ve known since 2020 that I wanted to launch Crime & Compassion—a podcast that tells the stories of those who were written off. I enjoyed two years (2018–2020) as a volunteer chaplain at Oklahoma County Jail, which played a big role in my heart’s desire to work with the incarcerated. But when I worked on author Shari Bower’s memoir, Before They Executed Him: A Wife’s Story of Death Row, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the only thing I wanted to do with my life was reach the incarcerated.

My lifelong dream was to become an author, an editor, a speaker. I wanted nothing but the publishing world—and I had it. I loved my company, which I ran for 14 years. But a dream job is not the same as a life scripture. I’m so grateful that I got to enjoy my dream job, but my life scripture of working with and for the incarcerated is more important to me than anything else.

So . . . I sold off my assets and launched C&C this year. Though it did launch as a podcast, I’ve often reminded supporters that C&C is an umbrella with many facets beneath it. The podcast was just one element to the mission of C&C—I knew things would fall in place and make sense if I just started. It took no time at all for a class to be dropped in my lap in the best way possible, and boy am I a sucker for baptism by fire! It worked out beautifully.

I recently hired Oklahoma Nonprofit Solutions to handle my 501(c)3 filing with the IRS. The C&C board of directors includes Shari Bower’s daughter, a former Texas death row chaplain, a formerly incarcerated soldier who wrote a memoir about his time in Fort Leavenworth, a therapist with a big heart for these women, and my closest friend. Go team!

What’s one thing you wish people knew about the women you work with?

There are a hundred things I wish people knew about the incredible women I work with; it’s very difficult to choose just one thing because I want everyone to know how talented, generous, and kind these women are. But . . . I wish people could truly comprehend the unbelievable role that trauma plays in someone’s life before they commit a crime.

The minute you try to discuss trauma and incarceration, you’re often met with, “It’s not an excuse to do what they did!” I want to see people soften their hearts and grasp that no one is excusing the crime by discussing the trauma—they’re educating you on why the person made the choice they did. With that education comes more compassion, more understanding. And isn’t that really all they’re asking—to show compassion when no one else does? You can either be the person who turns your nose up at the incarcerated, who forgets about them, or you can be someone different, someone who sees the need and reaches out to offer hope.

From this short interview, I’m sure you can see why we chose Crime & Compassion, Inc. as our 2024 charity. It’s so important to find our purpose and be able to pass along the blessings we’ve received, and Shayla is doing that in a big way.

So if you’re seeking for purpose, I’d encourage you to keep looking. Keep trying new things—especially the hard stuff. If you know what you need to do but haven’t pulled the trigger, ask yourself Why Not? What roadblocks are in your way? Consider making 2025 the year you make a plan and start moving toward that finish line.

If you’d like to learn more about Crime & Compassion (including donation information, if you feel inclined), the following links are a good starting point.

• Substack
• Substack subscription/donation 
• TikTok
• Instagram
• Threads
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Facebook

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Pursuing Your Passion and Paying It Forward appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Publishing your own book is a lot like juggling—and not those harmless little balls, either. Try a couple of balls, a chainsaw, a set of Ginsu knives, and a litter of kittens. There are so many things to remember, and they’re all vital to getting your book into readers’ hands in a reasonable timeframe. Drop any of those balls and you end up with a messy or unfinished product that doesn’t reflect the time and energy you’ve put into it.

One thing Angela and I started doing early in our career was creating a publication timeline for each book. This allowed us to track the things that had to get done, plan how long each step would take, and determine a reasonable launch deadline.

These timelines have been crucial to us being able to release our books in a timely fashion without forgetting anything important. And eight books later, we’re still using the same template. Today I’d like to share my process with you so you can do the same.

1. Make a List of Tasks Needed to Publish Your Book

What jobs will need to be done for your book to be published? Some of these are universal—writing the book, revising it, designing a cover, etc. But others will be specific to you and the kind of book you’ve written. To get you started, here’s our list of Must-Dos, which can be tweaked to fit your process. 

Drafting: Each nonfiction book that Angela and I write consists of two portions: instructive front matter and thesaurus entries. We tackle each section separately, so they’re listed as such on our spreadsheet.

Revision: The length for this part of the process will vary between authors and from project to project. 

Professional Editing: We’ve come a long way from the self-publishing stigma that was so pervasive when we published our first book in 2012. A lot of that is due to authors recognizing the need to create a polished product. When you’ve done as much with your manuscript as you can, hire a professional to take it to the next level. Because of the unusual format of our nonfiction books, Angela and I hire an editor to tidy up the narrative front matter and a proofreader to fine-tooth-comb the entry section, but that won’t be necessary for everyone. 

Drawer Time: After so much time focusing on a book, we start to lose perspective; we’re so close to it that we can no longer see the issues. To gain a little distance, stick it in the “drawer” for a while. Work on something else. Then, when you come back to it, you can give it a final read-through with fresh eyes to catch anything you may have missed.

Cover Design: Whether you do it yourself or hire someone, you’ll need to create a cover for your book. 

Formatting: This is the final step in the process of creating the actual book. Again, you can do this job yourself or hire it out.

Marketing for Your Launch: What’s your marketing plan? How will you get the word out about your book? Make note on your timeline of the different strategies you’ll employ, such as crafting a launch-related newsletter, soliciting testimonials, hiring a street team, or sending out requests to write guest posts for influential blogs around the time of your release.

Publishing: Decide where you’re going to sell your books (Amazon, Apple, on your website, etc.). Familiarize yourself with their timelines so you’ll know how long it takes for an uploaded file to be available for purchase. This will ensure that your books can be bought at the various distributors by your launch date.

Miscellaneous Pre-Launch Stuff: There are lots of nitpicky tasks that need to be done before your book goes live: creating blurbs, updating your bio, adding the book to your website bookstore, obtaining an ISBN—all the little things that don’t fit into bigger categories. Dropping them into a Miscellaneous section on your timeline is a good way to remember them so they don’t creep up on you.

Other Considerations: Our spreadsheet isn’t comprehensive; it excludes a lot of common tasks such as obtaining feedback from beta readers and setting up preorders. And that’s fine. Everyone’s process is different. As you set up your own timeline, you can include anything we’ve omitted and remove the tasks that aren’t necessary.

Once you’ve created your list of tasks, put them into a spreadsheet, as follows. Then you’re ready for the next step.

2. Split Tasks into Subtasks

Some jobs will require multiple steps. You want to note these under each task so you don’t forget them. 

3. Assign Time Estimates for Each Task and Subtask.

If you’ve written books before, you’ll know how long it will take to draft, revise, and the like. If this will be your first time, make your best guess; you can always adjust, as long as you’ve added enough buffer into your overall timeline (more on that later). For tasks that will be handled by others, decide early on who you’ll be working with. Ask them in advance how long they’ll need to complete your cover design or format a project like yours. Add time estimates for each task and subtask to your spreadsheet. Here’s how our timeline started for The Occupation Thesaurus:

4. Order Your Tasks.

Most of the steps to publication go in a logical sequence: drafting, then revising, then formal editing, etc. But some jobs can overlap. For instance, you may decide to do your cover design or beta reading during that important drawer time. You might be able to start some marketing incentives while the book is still being formatted. Arrange your tasks so you can see the order in which they need to be accomplished.

5. Decide on a Launch Date

Now that you know the tasks you’ll be handling and how much time is needed for each, you can decide on a release date. Add up the time allotted for all the tasks to see how much will be needed overall. Then get out the calendar and choose a launch date that will give you enough time to do everything on your list. Be sure to plan around family vacations, holidays, big work projects, and any other events that would make it difficult for you to focus on your launch.

One other thing you’ll want to factor into your timeline is what I like to call Buffer. No matter how carefully you plan, things go wrong. Your cover designer goes out of business and you have to find a new one, beta feedback requires you to make major changes, a family situation crops up that steals your writing time … Trust me, you will need more time than you think you do, so add some buffer into your timeline. You won’t see it on our sheet because I don’t physically add a line item for buffer; I just add an extra 3-4 weeks to the overall timeframe and choose a launch date with that in mind. This may sound like overkill, but Angela and I have needed at least some of that buffer for every release. And if you end up finishing ahead of schedule, great. You’ve got some time to breathe before jumping into your marketing campaign. 

6. Work Backwards to Assign Timeframes to Each Task

Once you’ve got a launch date in mind, work backwards from that date to fill in the timeframes for each task so you’ll know when each one needs to be done. For The Occupation Thesaurus, we needed about 4 1/2 months, including buffer, so we decided to shoot for a release date of 7/20. The item on my spreadsheet that’s just prior to launch is Publishing. Seeing that I have to upload and publish my digital files at various distributors five days before launch, I plan to do that on 7/15. Next, I’ve got a note that my Amazon files should be published a week before the release date, so I’ll do those on 7/13. Print files have to be uploaded even earlier, because I have to order a proof and make sure the paper copy looks good. I allot three weeks for that (in case anything goes wrong and I have to make changes and order a second proof), so I plan to upload the print file three weeks before launch, on 6/23.

That takes care of all the publishing tasks. So I move up to formatting. My formatter needs about three weeks, so I plan to get her the material on 5/25 in hopes that I’ll have the finished files by 6/19. Then I move on to the task that comes before formatting…

In this way, work your way backward until you’ve assigned dates for all the tasks. This process will tell you when, at the latest, you should start working through your list so you’ll be done in time for your launch. And it acts as a schedule to keep you on track as you go. Here’s what ours looked like for this particular publication:

This may seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it because you only have to do it once. Then, when it’s time to publish your next book, the spreadsheet is there, with the necessary tasks and timeframes laid out. All you have to do is adjust the dates so they fit your new launch date. It makes things SO much easier.

This sheet is also handy because it allows you to note what doesn’t work so you can make changes for the next publication. For instance, prior to this publication, we’d always sent out ARCs as PDFs after the book was formatted (so readers had the cleanest version to read). But we learned that if readers find typos and other errors, it was too late for us to go back and remove them because the files had already been formatted. We made a note for future publications to create a quick PDF from the manuscript and send those out as ARCs before we got to the formatting stage so we could incorporate any changes before the files were finalized.

This timeline has been an absolute lifesaver for us and has made the jump to self-publishing much more manageable. And it can do the same for you. We’d love for you to use our spreadsheet as a template and individualize it to fit your next project. And if you have questions about the process, I’m here to answer them.

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Creating a Publication Timeline for Your Next Release appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

It’s a big anniversary for us, folks! Ten years ago today we hit the publish button on The Emotion Thesaurus.

10 Years. Can you believe it?

We wrote this book hoping to help others who struggled with showing character emotion, but deep down, we were terrified. It was our first book. We were nobodies…who would take us seriously? And we were self-publishing at a time when the industry wasn’t too fond of that just yet.

We had no idea it would go on to become so well-loved book. And oh my gosh, guys–thank you so much for that!

Many of you have told us the Emotion Thesaurus never leaves your desk, and it’s hard to describe how good that makes us feel. Talk about honored. It got us thinking about the many other must-have resources that help writers create, publish, and build satisfying careers. That led to a very big question:

What would the Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit look like?

So, we polled other writers, made a list of the best of the best, and then reached out to the leaders in our industry to see if they would help us build an ULTIMATE toolkit and give it away.

The Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit Giveaway

Buckle in, writers, because one of you will win…

A 1-Year Subscription to Jane Friedman’s The Hot Sheet: An award-winning newsletter that will keep you up to date on the market, industry news, author earnings, trending topics, and new opportunities. (Value: $59) 

Writer’s Digest’s Get Published in 2022 Bundle: Nine amazing resources to help you stay productive, get published, and keep a positive mindset, so you reach your creative goals. (Value: $79.99)

Joanna Penn’s Author Business Plan Course: Learn the elements of an effective business plan, questions you need to answer to discover what lies behind the plan, and how to act on decisions made to take your author career to the next level. (Value: $99)

A 1-Year Subscription to One Stop for Writers: Everything a writer needs to create fresh, breakout fiction: powerful character and plotting tools, worldbuilding surveys, worksheets, the largest show-don’t-tell database available anywhere, and a Storyteller’s Roadmap to guide you from that first idea all the way to a publish-ready book. (Value: $105)

A Scrivener Writing Software License: Provides all you need to write and brings together your notes, research, and writing…so it’s always at hand. It also lets you set word targets for your entire manuscript or for the current writing session—which can be great motivation. (Value: $49)

A 1-Year ProWritingAid License: More features than any other manuscript editing software on the market! Improve your writing quickly and efficiently with thousands of grammar, spelling and readability improvements delivered in real-time as you write. (Value: $79)

The Hero’s Two Journeys Video Access: Two of Hollywood’s top Story Experts, Michael Hauge & Chris Vogler, reveal the secrets of mastering Plot Structure, Character Arc, Identity, Essence, Archetype and Theme. (Value: $39)

A 1-Year Subscription to StoryTeller: Get ready for revision to get a lot easier! Use Fictionary’s 38 Story Elements to evaluate your story scene to scene so only your best writing makes it to the page. (Value: $200)

A 1-Year Premium Membership to The Critique Circle: Continuously improve your writing by critiquing others and building relationships with authors who will help with your manuscripts. You can receive multiple critiques and compare feedback to see what’s working and what areas need to be strengthened. (Value: $50)

A Publisher Rocket License: Publisher Rocket helps get your book in front of more Amazon shoppers with four tools to increase book sales. It makes finding keywords, sizing up the competition, and choosing profitable categories quick and easy. (Value: $97)

A 1-Year Subscription to Book Brush: The easiest way to create professional ads, social media images, and 3D book covers using author-specific stamps, templates and animations. (Value: $99)

A 1-Year Subscription to StoryOrigin: Build your mailing list, increase sales, and find reviewers for your book all in one place. Everything an author needs to super-charge their marketing! (Value: $100)

A Writers Helping Writers Thesaurus Set*: Nine bestselling writing guides to help you activate the power of show-don’t-tell to involve readers more deeply in the world, events, and emotional undercurrents of your book. *US winner: print, International winner: digital. Emotion Amplifiers is digital only

Say, are you drooling?
It’s okay, we don’t blame you!

We can’t wait to see who wins this unbelievable writing toolkit. It won’t just improve someone’s writing – it will accelerate their career!

Runner-Up Prize Alert!

Because Writer’s Digest is so generous, they are also offering a runner-up prize:

Writer’s Digest NaNoWriMo Prep Bundle: Tons of tools to get your creativity flowing, keep you motivated, and complete your first draft in 30 days. ($56.99)

Thank you to all the generous sponsors who contributed to this Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit!

A little something from Becca & Angela

Many of you have The Emotion Thesaurus, either the original (75 emotions), or the 2nd edition (130 emotions), but you may not know it’s also at One Stop for Writers where we expand it from time to time.

In fact, we recently added 5 NEW EMOTIONS: Joy, Indignation, Misery, Giddiness, and Revulsion, so if you like, start a 2-week free trial to check out these entries (and the rest of the database), or…

Give yourself a 30% discount by using the code EMOTION when you sign up to any paid plan.

(Code valid until May 18th, 2022.)

Ready to enter the Giveaway? Find it below & good luck!

All the usual giveaway legalese applies – no purchase necessary, must be 18, and the winner is subject to our giveaway policies here. Additionally, these prizes have no cash value and cannot be exchanged. Some may have a time limit for redemption or other prize-specific conditions.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post 10-Year Celebration: Win the Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

It’s the start of a new year. Are you ready to take the next step in your writing career?

If not, that’s okay. Do it anyway.

Because no writer ever got anywhere waiting until she was “ready.”

5 Advantages Risk Takers Have Over Writers Who Play It Safe

Look around and you’ll see—successful writers are risk-takers.

That means they do things before they feel completely “ready” to do them.

Writers are often by nature a cautious bunch. We like to make sure everything is right before we take that leap. That’s usually a good approach when it comes to the writing itself, but it can stunt your growth in the rest of your writing career.

1. Risk Takers Are Smarter

In 2015, researchers reported on a study in which they used MRI scans to compare the brains of risk-takers with play-it-safers. They found the risk-takers had more white matter in their brains—the area responsible for sending messages back and forth.

Why would this be? It seems the more risks a person takes, the more he/she learns about various situations, which helps the brain grow. Ergo, risk takers are smarter!

2. Risk Takers are Optimists

Risk takers are optimists by nature. They’re more willing to take a risk because they have a positive outlook. “It will be great!” they say, whereas the play-it-safers are more likely to list all the ways things will go wrong. (One of the reasons they hesitate.)

Risk takers have the right attitude when it comes to taking chances. They know things may not always work out perfectly, but they feel confident they’ll be able to handle whatever challenges may come their way.

3. Risk Takers Learn More

It’s one thing to “think about” trying something new. Take self-publishing a book, for example. You can imagine all the steps you need to take, but the process of actually taking them will teach you far more.

4. Risk Takers Overcome Fear of Failure

Play-it-safers fear failure. It’s the main reason why they avoid taking risks. After all, if you never submit to a publisher, you never have to suffer through a rejection.

The writer who takes the risk of submitting again and again eventually overcomes that fear of failure. It doesn’t mean rejections don’t sting. It just means the writer has developed the skill to manage it.

5. Risk Takers are Happier

In one study involving more than 20,000 interviews, researchers found that people who enjoyed taking risks were more content with their lives as they got older.

Here’s another interesting finding: Those more likely to take risks were also more likely to be self-employed. (Hello authorpreneurs!)

How to Take Smart Risk in Your Writing Career

This year, why not take a few more risks in your writing life? You may fail a time or two, but you’ll build your confidence and learn a lot on the way

Just remember two things:

1. It will never feel comfortable. There will always be an element of the unknown in any risk you take—that’s what makes it exciting! So expect a few butterflies and proceed anyway.

2. Take smart risks. I’m not saying quit your day job tomorrow and go off to Hawaii to write. It’s important to stack the odds in your favor before you take that leap.

How do you do that?

Answer three questions. Here’s an example for you.

Let’s say you’re thinking of self-publishing a book this year for the first time. (You can use any example you like from your writing life.)

First, write down all the potential problems that could occur.

For example:

• The cover may not work for your target audience.
• The book may contain errors.
• You may have poor sales.
• You may get bad reviews.

Next, put on your problem-solving hat. How can you reduce the odds that these negative outcomes will occur?

• Research covers that sell in your genre and hire a professional cover designer.
• Hire a proficient editor and proofreader.
• Put together a plan for a successful book launch.
• Make your book as good as you can, then offer it to your followers to review.

The problem-solving step is critical when it comes to taking risks. It not only improves the odds your risk will pay off, but it also pushes you to innovate in ways you may not have otherwise. 

Consider the writer who has a small subscriber list and is worried about having a lackluster book launch. Problem-solving compels her to grow that list before her book comes out.

By doing so, she solves her launch problem and expands her author business.

Finally, ask yourself the question most writers miss: What will it cost you NOT to take this risk?

• My work remains in the desk drawer and never sees the light of day.
• I continue to stagnate as a writer, rather than progressing.
• My author business struggles.
• I become a discouraged writer.

Play-it-safers benefit most from this step because it shows the very real cost of NOT taking a risk. Oftentimes, when looking at your writing career as a whole, this is a much more damaging option than taking a risk might be. 

Ready to Take That Leap?

Once you’ve answered all of the questions above, it’s time to take that leap. Hold your breath and jump, and have faith that it will work out.

If you’re still not sure, I offer you this quote by actor Hugh Laurie (“House”) as inspiration:

“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There’s almost no such thing as ready. There’s only now. And you may as well do it now. I mean, I say that confidently as if I’m about to go bungee jumping or something — I’m not. I’m not a crazed risk taker. But I do think that, generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”

Get help setting inspiring goals this year with Colleen’s FREE “Start the Year Off Right” bundle, available here!

Sources

• Harvard Health Publishing. (2020, July 27). Optimism and your health. Harvard Health.
• A quote by Hugh Laurie. (n.d.). Goodreads | Meet your next favorite book.
• Science Daily. (2020, November 18). No risk, no fun? People who take risks more satisfied with their lives. ScienceDaily.
• Vorobyev, V., Kwon, M. S., Moe, D., Parkkola, R., & Hämäläinen, H. (2015). Risk-taking behavior in a computerized driving task: Brain activation correlates of decision-making, outcome, and peer influence in male adolescents. PLOS ONE, 10(6), e0129516.

COLLEEN M. STORY - Resident Writing Coach

Colleen M. Story is a novelist, freelance writer, writing coach, and speaker with over 20 years in the creative writing industry. In addition to writing several award-winning novels, Colleen’s series of popular success guides, Your Writing Matters, Writer Get Noticed! and Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, have all been recognized for their distinction.

Colleen offers personalized coaching plans tailored to meet your needs, and frequently serves as a workshop leader and motivational speaker, where she helps attendees remove mental and emotional blocks and tap into their unique creative powers. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Colleen below. Free chapters | Master Writer Mindset

The post Why Writers Should Take More Risks This Year appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

One truth in writing is that some writing days are happier than others. Life isn’t easy; we’ve all gone through periods of time where it’s taken everything we’ve had just to keep our battered lifeboat afloat.

When you encounter periods of extreme struggle, it can help to have some strategies up your sleeve to help navigate.

1. Slow Your Roll

Typically January is a time for beating our chests, shouting writerly war cries, and leaping into the new year. Admirable, but we haven’t yet figured out if 2021 is an older dog snoozing on the porch or a rabid, blood demon ready to bite. So, rather than stacking your next twelve months minute-by-minute, step back and self-assess: how is my family doing, and what do they need? How am I doing and what do I need? Once these are answered move on to, how can I take care of these and make strides forward in my writing?

Balance should be on our radar right now, and not stretching ourselves too thin. What will fuel you and make you happy this coming year? Set intentions for yourself that help your writing career and nourish your spirit. Maybe you want to read more fiction, play around with a new genre, or take a class on screenwriting because you’ve always wondered what that side of the fence is like. Or you know creating new habits will make you feel better overall: walking every day, taking breaks from the desk, eating better or getting more rest.

I get your first instinct might be to hit the writing/publishing/marketing/go-go-go mat with everything you’ve got, but is it sustainable after such a rough year? Do what you can but make room for things that bring you joy.

2. Don’t Freak Out

Every year I read predictions from industry experts to better see what the marketing landscape looks and I’m sure you do, too. Some are saying that last year, lots of people picked up a pen and so they’ll be publishing those books this year (whether they should is another discussion). The consensus is that authors should expect more competition and so will want to focus on platform to help themselves stand out.

This may be excellent advice for a normal year when your tank is full and your engine is revving at January’s starting gate. But a year when you’re carrying a heavy load already and trying to ration your last energy bar? I don’t know. Is pushing yourself to spend even more time on social media, investigating, joining, and navigating new platforms, figuring out visibility algorithms, investing ads to bring people to you, etc…is this the best use of your time?

I can’t answer this, only you can. But it’s wise to remember two things: 1) you only have so much time and energy in the bucket and 2) sometimes less is more. Investing time in one or two social spaces to connect with potential readers will pay off more that stretching yourself thin trying to do it all. Identify what is best to focus on and don’t feel pressured to do more than you think you need to. For you, maybe the biggest platform move you can make is growing your newsletter list, not getting yourself on TikTok, starting a podcast, or mastering Facebook.

Will there be more books published in 2021? Yes. Some will be terrible, some will be good, as always. Remember, only a fraction of a fraction of the good books are your “competition” (Why air quotes? Because other authors aren’t competitors, they are assets. Another post for another day). Every book has its own set of readers so you only need to worry about reaching the ones right for YOUR book. So whatever you do regarding platform, make sure you’re specifically funneling time into gaining a foothold with your exact audience not worrying about all those other authors and their books.

3. Remember Your Why

I am speaking from experience on this one when I say that when you’re overwhelmed, it is easy to become utterly disillusioned. You question your path, why it’s taking so long to achieve the success you hoped, and maybe start thinking your path lies elsewhere. This often leads to setting aggressive goals in a “this year I kill it or I give up” deadline, or you plod along, unhappy and even more unproductive, which in turn causes more stress and feelings of inadequacy. Both are unfair to you, the work you have put into your writing, and will leave you feeling even MORE worn out.

So, cut yourself some slack. This career doesn’t happen overnight, and that’s okay–anything worth doing is worth doing well. Pick up a book, watch a movie…get lost in the beauty of story. Remember WHY words called to you in the first place. Remember how books made you feel BEFORE you started to write, how they were your companion, your solace, your guide. And then think about how your stories will give that gift to others one day. There’s no race going on here, so remember your “why” and let yourself fall in love with the journey again, not just the result.

4. Stay Connected

We writers are often lone wolves when it comes to putting pen to paper, but we still need people. Our peers can help us problem solve, grow, and stay sane. Having an online writing community is a great way to stay connected when other avenues for connection have closed. I’m partial to The Critique Circle as it’s where Becca and I met, but here’s a list of communities to look into.

5. Set Micro Goals, Not Macro Goals

I know many of us want to set big goals because we feel like the last year totally sidelined us, but in times of uncertainty, things are not always in our control. So this might be a year to plot our course forward through a series of achievable, micro goals. Like stepping stones across a creek, they will still get us to our destination, and we can celebrate each one as we accomplish it rather than pine for the “big” goal. Succeeding on a smaller scale renews energy levels and, should something happen to derail us, allows us to pivot and regroup more easily. Win-win.

All of these help you protect your mindset.

Burnout isn’t pretty, and we want to avoid it. So create a balance, thinking about your own well-being as much as the goals you want to achieve.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Angela’s Tips for a Happier Writing Life appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

When the clock turns forward, we tend to think about what the next year will bring. Now personally I’m not one for making New Years resolutions, but I absolutely do think forward, solidifying what I want to accomplish, ways I want to change, and then I make a plan on how to do both.

Right now, a big change is going on behind the scenes (I apologize for being vague but I really can’t talk about it yet) and the stakes have raised. Becca and I had to make a decision, and we made it. Our path forward means doubling down in what we believe in and embracing risks that will greatly challenge our knowledge and abilities. It’s a bit scary. No, that’s the wrong word. It’s terrifying.

But if we have learned anything, it is that if we want something, the only way to get it is to turn intent into action. This means engaging in some deep thinking and planning, and then moving on to the hard work of doing.

If you want to accomplish big things as an author, ask yourself these questions. They will help you move from thinking, to planning, to DOING.

Thinking

• ASK: As a writer, what do I want for myself in the coming year that is within my control to do, will bring me joy, and will leave me satisfied at year’s end?
• EVALUATE: How can I better steer my time and energy so I grow, improve, and move forward in ways I can measure?
• IDENTIFY: What stepping stones will help me get closer to my goals this next year?

Planning

• RESEARCH: What tools, information, education, communities, and opportunities will help me grow in the ways I need most?
• PRIORITIZE: How can I make it a priority to obtain these things?
• NAVIGATE: What tasks must I finish to ensure I make progress toward reasonable and achievable goals?

Doing

This is the hard part. We can think and plan, but unless we’re ready to do the hard work, we won’t succeed. So consider the following:

COMMIT: Reject excuses and change your habits. Better manage your writing time. Create a to-do list or set achievable mini-goals each day. If you have one, make choices that align to your business plan.

Why is this important? When more is getting done (revisions completed, new projects started, a book published, a website created, etc.) you can’t help but be motivated by your progress. Small successes lead to big ones, and each day that you choose action over inaction, you will see how YOU and YOUR CHOICES are shaping your future.

INVEST: Buy that course (or workshop, marketing guide, etc.) if you truly need it. Invest in the subscription that will give you access to knowledge and mentorship so you can achieve important stepping stones. Trade your time to work with critique partners so you can learn from each other.

Why is this important? I’m not trying to be flippant or cause anyone financial hardship. It’s not easy to spend time and money up front, especially when there are other things going on in our lives. We feel guilt, we worry. But like any other professional career, we writers need to invest in knowledge and a toolkit to do our best work. Be smart about it, but if you need something to succeed, make it a priority.

SACRIFICE: Decide what you are willing to let go of to get what you want. Trade a TV show for more writing time. Get up a bit earlier on the weekends to have more time to focus on your goals. Give up those fancy coffees and put the money toward a resource you know will make writing easier.

Why is this important? When you walk the walk, that’s powerful. It proves to your biggest critic (that’s YOU, by the way) that you will not be deterred, how this is important and meaningful, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes. So make sacrifices.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Business Plan

Years ago, Becca and I realized we needed to make a change if we wanted to get anywhere. Our career was overloaded with “all the things we felt we needed to juggle” to succeed. We decided to narrow our focus on what would help us reach specific goals and we created a business plan.

My gosh, the difference has been astounding! I wrote about our plan long ago at Jane Friedman’s blog and still have people asking for the template, so if it will help you, check it out.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How to Build a Roadmap to the Author Future You Want appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

When you live in a place like Canada where summer can be, er, fleeting, you feel enormous pressure to get outside and DO STUFF. And heck, no matter where you live, summer is a time to be with family, enjoy s’mores around the campfire, go kayaking, and enjoy life’s bounty. After all, isn’t that the point, to live our lives?

But, we writers tend to have 3 modes of operation: writing, thinking about writing, and feeling guilty about NOT writing. As you can imagine, summer causes a bit of havoc on our psyche. Guess what? We can have our cake and eat it too! Just re-frame your expectations and redefine “writing-related” tasks.

Feeling unproductive? Worried your writing will be shelved for the summer? Give one of these ideas a spin:

1) Make a list of marketing and platform-building tasks.

Small blocks of time are the perfect opportunity to get through some of the smaller jobs there’s never time for. So if you want to revamp your facebook page, investigate who your book’s audience is (and maybe start building relationships with influencers), or even build a business plan, make a list and tackle these piecemeal in the time gaps you do get.

2) Research an area of struggle.

Are you on shaky ground when it comes to dialogue, plotting, or *internal screaming* grammar? Why not take some time to read a book on the topic, google up some blog posts, or study your favorite authors? Work on this area and by summer’s end, you’ll be that much closer to mastering it. In fact, if you are looking for knowledge to absorb, I recommend starting with my pinterest boards which are broken down by writing topic.

3) Read a few books in your genre, and at least one outside of it.

It’s always good to stay current with one’s genre, and if finding time to work on a novel is too difficult, you can stay in the flow by studying what others are doing. And because reading in only one genre can cause is to have blinders on at times, try a foray into another genre, too. You’ll be amazed on what you pick up by reading in a genre you don’t typically write in.

4) Tackle some small or unfinished projects.

Do you have blog posts or a book review to write? Maybe a few magazine pieces which need editing? Or it could be there’s some critique group feedback to go through in the hopper. Whatever the case is, try to work through a few of these smaller tasks and you’ll feel good because you’re flexing your writing muscles AND knocking items off your to-do list.

5) Sign up for a class.

Chances are there will be writing events or workshops in your city over the summer, so why not search up local writing groups and associations (RWA, etc.) and see what’s happening in your area? And if not, look online, starting with Kristen Lamb’s WANA International and Margie Lawson’s Writing Academy. You can’t go wrong with either.

5) Build a Cast of Characters.

Sometimes we aren’t in the mood to tackle a new story, but we want to use summer to let ideas simmer. A great way to do this is by getting started on character building and getting to know the next set of characters you will be working with. There’s no better tool to do this with than the Character Builder at One Stop for Writers.

Give the free trial a try – it prompts you with brainstorming ideas as you go. With the Free Trial you can build one character and see just how powerful this tool is. If you upgrade to a subscription, you can build a Character Profile PDF like this one that can be exported right to Scrivener, too.

How do you make sure you’re productive during the summer? Let us know in the comments!

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ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post The Write Life: How To Enjoy Summer and Still Be Productive appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.