Think about another project that you started but didn’t finish. Why were you unable to finish? Are those same obstacles the reason(s) you’re not writing regularly? During your writing session, jot down some ways that you might avoid or overcome these obstacles.

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing self-published writers is getting their name and book title in front of people. That’s especially difficult when hundreds of books are published every day. One long-term solution to help overcome this problem is to make the first book in your series permanently free.

When you give away a book for free, you’re likely to generate a lot of interest. If you’ve ever done free book promotions days on Kindle DP, for example, you’ve probably seen dozens if not hundred of your books get downloaded. So if you have several books, especially a series of them, why not always offers one for free?

The goal is to get potential readers to sample your work. If they enjoyed reader the book you’ve given them for them, then they’ll hopefully:
• Purchase your other books in the series
• Tell others about the book; they in turn will sample it for free and purchase your other books in the series
• Check out your web page or social media pages and begin to follow you
• Post reviews of your books on Goodreads or Amazon

Of course, all of this assumes that in your ebook you’ve included information about and links to the next books in the series, have links that take readers straight to your social media pages, and that you have a page asking for reviews with links to those websites.

The best part of this strategy is that a component of your marketing effort is now largely on auto-pilot – you’re not making public appearances, not writing guest blogs, not constantly devising clever tweets to pump up book sales.

Regardless, so that people know about your book you’ll want to include promos for the free book at various websites. For example, you might include a promo on your blog pages, your website pages, and in all of your other books. You’ll also want to send out a note about the book on occasion via your social media sites. But again, once these initial promos are created, they can be run largely on auto-pilot.

Note that you should only do this with ebooks. While you can give away paperbacks for free, costs incur, and that will greatly reduce the profit from your sales and even reduce your writing time for the next book in your series.

_____________________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional book editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of 80 books including the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my book marketing guidebooks:

As a published author, you’ll have to pay taxes on your earnings from book sales. If a self-published author in the United States, you are a self-proprietor, and that means you’ll need to fill out some additional forms with the IRS.

A minimum of three forms have to be filed with the IRS:
• 1040 – This is the income tax form that you typically complete. You’ll have to fill out some new lines on the form, however, namely those regarding business income.
• Schedule C – This is the profit and loss form for sole proprietors. Numbers from this form are needed to completed your 1040.
• Schedule SE – This form is used to determine your self-employment tax, which is your contribution for Social Security and Medicare. Numbers from this form also will be used to complete your 1040.

There may be additional federal forms that you must complete, specifically for taking deductions, such as for a home office, or for health insurance coverage you might take out through your business.

For many first-time authors, federal taxes – thanks to the self-employment tax – comes as a surprise. Given this, always set aside a portion of your earnings from your sales rather than spend all of it. You can estimate how much you will have to pay in taxes by going to irs.gov and your state revenue department website to review tax rates against what you’ll likely earn. Short of that, a good idea is to set aside 30%-40% of your income for federal and state taxes; that amount is probably high for most authors, but arguably a windfall is better than a shortfall come April 15.

In addition, if you’ll have to pay more than $1,000 a year in taxes to the federal government, you’ll need to pay that in four portions, due two weeks after the end of each quarter (Federal quarters end on April 15, June 15, October 15, and January 15.). The payments should be in equal amounts, so if you owe the feds $1000 in taxes, each quarter you would owe $250. You may have to do the same for your state if it collects income tax.

IRS Publication 583 (available online for free via irs.gov) offers suggestions on starting a business and keeping records for it.

Many authors work from their kitchen table or den so slightly reduce their taxes by taking tax deductions for having a “home office.” If you wish to take that route, then check with the IRS on what it will allow for tax deductions; IRS Publication 587 (also available online for free via irs.gov) covers that topic.

When filing taxes, be honest! IRS audit rates are higher for sole proprietors than for corporations, probably because the opportunity to hide income is easier for self-employed individuals.

Final note: You also may need to pay state and county sales tax on books you sell at an event. Laws differ from state to state, so check with your state’s department of revenue for the correct forms to use.

If you don’t sell 5,000 books, still don’t despair. Instead, get working on that next book. Perhaps that one will catch on – and then readers will discover that masterpiece you’ve previously written.

________________________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my self-publishing guidebooks:

Good stories center on the clashing of characters’ goals and motivations. Sometimes a character’s goals and motivations arise from or are affected by being tricked or deceived. Here are four writing prompts for stories that center on betrayal.

Man vs. nature
A man who should have been hailed as a hero is betrayed and left to die in an unforgiving environment. How does he survive the obstacles nature throws at him? As overcoming these hurdles, what skills or knowledge does he gain that allows him to either thrive in there or upon reaching his homeland to return his status to that of a hero?

Man vs. man
What if our protagonist’s best friend betrays him? How does our main character cope with this realization? How does he set things straight, such as revenge or redoubling his efforts to achieve his goals despite the betrayal?

Man vs. society
Our main character discovers that several people in her organization (business, political office, etc.) who are in his employ have betrayed him. Firing those people isn’t enough, though, for they’ve tied up the organization in deals and secrets that will cause his fall and financial ruin. How does he unravel the truth behind these betrayals and right her ship before it sinks?

Man vs. himself
To achieve an important objective that will save a number of people, the main character must betray those who are closest to him – perhaps his family, perhaps an organization he belongs to. What inner struggles does the character go through to decide if he should commit this betrayal? Do the needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the few – even if those few mean more to the main character than anyone else?

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

Oh what a difference a space makes – so don’t be careless and make this typo.

“Careless” with no space means to be negligent or reckless because one hasn’t put enough forethought into or isn’t paying attention to something. For example: Jenny’s careless driving led to a head-on collision.

“Care less” with a space means to that one isn’t interested. For example: A long-time egghead, Jill couldn’t care less about the big football game.

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

One sign of a good opener is that it makes the reader want to continue with the story. Using a fishing metaphor, a good opener “hooks” the reader.

Writers who catch the reader have employed a successful narrative hook. A narrative hook involves dangling elements of the story before the reader so he can’t help but bite. This is done by making the reader want to know more – the who, what, where, when, how and why of the story.

Consider this story opener:

Jord ducked around the corner, pressed himself hard against the damp wall, wishing he could fade into it. His eyes darted toward the wall’s edge, hoping to catch the shift of a shadow, a movement of brush, any sign at all that they were close.

Notice how it dangles elements of the story. The reader wants to know why Jord is running and who is chasing him. The reader wants to know if Jord will get caught.

Successful narrative hooks usually begin the story in the middle of the action. Conflict already is underway. Beginning a story this way immediately creates dramatic tension, which for most readers is the delight of the narrative.

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks about plot:

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

“Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies.” ― Terri Guillemets

“I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.” ― Edgar Rice Burroughs

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ― Ray Bradbury, “Zen in the Art of Writing”

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

All too often, struggling writers sabotage themselves without even realizing it. They do this by labeling themselves as an “aspiring novelist,” or as a “wannabe writer.” Perhaps they even say stuff like “I wish I were a writer” or “Someday I’ll publish a book.”

Such terminology highlights not the writers’ vision but their failure. Rather than focusing on what they are – writers – they concentrate on what they are not – unpublished.

Such an approach is merely a writer allowing his fear or self-loathing defining them. It gives him an excuse as to why he hasn’t (and maybe never well) achieve his personal dream.

In a day when self-publishing is virtually free and widely accepted, there’s no reason to not write and publish your manuscript. You always can change the text – not just go back and correct typos but even rewrite the paragraphs, whole chapters, or heck, even the whole book.

In any case, you don’t have to be published to be a writer. Certainly Emily Dickinson, who tucked her poems away in the back of her drawer, was a writer even though virtually none of her work was published during her lifetime.

Simply put, there’s no need to want to be a writer. Simply write.

______________

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks: