One of the things I get asked about from time to time is my decision to publish on Amazon Kindle. 

I get it, Amazon is the Bad Guys (and honestly, I don’t disagree with you), but they did streamline the process in a lot of ways that make self-publishing on Amazon very easy. 

My decision to self-publish actually started last year before NaNoWriMo. I had a job that I didn’t feel great about the longevity of, and I also live in a pretty stressful situation that I don’t make enough to move out of. My job was quiet, though, and I was able to listen to podcasts during the day. I started to devour so many writing podcasts - DIYMFA, I Wish I’d Know, Author Like a Boss, Spa Girls, Indie Fully Booked and so many others that I can’t even remember all of them. Just day after day, doing my little data entry, and listening to pods. I’d already been writing fanfic and listening to people who decided to take their publishing future into their own hands and really commit to writing their original stories was very inspiring. 

I will say, some of what I listened to was very reminiscent of Multi-Level Marketing jargon.

Do I think some people make a ton of money on Amazon? Yes. But I have my doubts about some of the advice floating around on social media and through these podcasts about the real money that can be (or can’t be) made on Amazon.

I also feel like some of the speakers can be a little bit... elitist? Classist? But that might be a different post kind of subject. 

What I DID take away, around Christmas or January of last year, was that some of these books that were being published were actually quite short. I don’t know if other autistic people struggle with this, but I know I need ‘permission’ or an example of how something is done before I realize I could have been doing it that way the whole time. Sometimes, my brain commits to rules that aren’t necessarily true. For instance, I thought all books had to be long - they had to be like, at least 50,000 to 150,000 words. This always felt like an insurmountable obstacle to me because I typically can’t stay committed to a story longer than like, 20k. I’m ready for a new part to the adventure by the time I get to that word count. 

But a lot of these indie published authors were talking about rabid releasing, writing very short books, and managing to make content every few weeks. Because of this, they were saying it was possible to start making a steady income relatively quickly by cementing your work in the Amazon algorithms. 

I didn’t think it was possible. So, using my small town romance project from last year’s NaNo, I decided to test myself. I’m a fairly quick writer and I’d been writing fanfic for a while, so I knew I could bust out a pretty okay romance story within a short time frame. I built a little world based on my town/the towns I tend to hang around in and I created four books (plus a bonus story for Christmas) set in these towns. I would release one 15,000 word ‘book’ each month from August to December and see what happened. Each book had 7 chapters, had call backs to characters that you knew from previous books so you felt like you were checking in on old friends, and the stories themselves could only take place over the period of a few days - or, in the case of Falling for Apple, a few weeks. 

I started writing in March and worked all the way through until I started releasing them in August. In that time, I changed jobs to someplace I had less free time for writing, and I’ve done a few plays. I’ve also traveled out of town, continued documenting the process on my YouTube channel, and dealt with a very sick relative/family drama. I feel really, really good about what we’ve accomplished. 

I am also burnt out as F_CK.

All in all, if you don’t count my $12.00 a month subscription to PicMonkey, which I use to make my covers but I had already because of my history with blogging/making Insta content, I’ve spent about $25 on advertising. I’ve done a few boosted posts through Instagram and the rest has been talking about the books on my channel or on my Instagram/Facebook/Tiktok accounts. I was trying to use this method of mostly relying on the Amazon algorithms to do the work for me- that was directly out of one of the podcasts. 

I have made about $100. 

That’s it. That will not help me move out of my home and it is not the second income I was hoping it would be. HOWEVER, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m very much due for a water break. 

Here is what I’ve learned throughout this process:

* Amazon makes it easy because they give you free ISBNs for your Kindle e-books. ISBN numbers can be Very Expensive, so this is a nice bit of accessibility for those of us living below the poverty line. 

* Amazon also has Kindle Create which basically formats your book for you/helps you format your books, so that’s pretty accessible as well.

* Amazon also pays you for page reads. So, yes, your book is free in Kindle Unlimited but you get paid per page read and that’s really nice.

If you have more asks about this process, please let me know because I do think knowledge should be shared and not kept where others (who don’t have the income) can reach it. 

How I'm growing my author platform without Instagram.

How I’m growing my author platform without Instagram.

A few days ago a good friend gave me a virtual shoulder shake and brought me down to earth. She gave me some great advice: Choose one place you “live” online and do what you love: write. Choose just one place where you share your writing work. In this episode, I let you know what places I’ve chosen and how I’m growing my author platform without social media channels like Instagram. I also give…

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Just a quick reminder that I will not tolerate bad-mouthing of traditional, indie, hybrid, online, fan-fiction, or any other type of writing and publishing on my blog, in asks, in the replies, or in the reblogs.

Furthermore, anyone who feels the need to disparage any type of writing or publication should take some time to educate themselves and do some self-reflection. What insecurities are these feelings masking? Why are they not confident enough in their own writing or path to publishing to be supportive of all types of writing and publishing? Why do they feel the experiences of some are enough to invalidate the experiences of many?

There is room for everyone in the world of writing and publishing. There's no reason not to be inclusive of everyone, all types of writing, all paths of publishing, and advice from every background and level of experience.

~ with love, WQA

write EVERY DAY. here's how.

where inspiration fails, habit will always have your back. this is why it's important to build writing into your life as a habit, if you ever want to finish a project or improve your skills.

back in 2018, i (nat) was a college student without much going for me. i was feeling creatively stifled and insecure and like i didn't have TIME to write good. and i was right. i didn't have time to write GOOD. but i did have time to write SOMETHING. so that january, i built the habit. i wrote every single day in 2018, and almost every single day since.

because once you establish the habit, it becomes safer to skip a day (or three days) here and there. you will at least THINK about writing every day, even if you go straight from work to social plans to bed, or you're on vacation, or you're too sick to write. and that thinking is part of the habit!

here are the tips i followed to make this happen.

-pick a reasonable goal. starting off, mine was 300 words. now, i don't follow a goal, because the habit is so solid i don't need to. but 300 words is easy and quick. and if you give a pig a pancake, they'll probably have days where they write 500, 1000, even 3k words.

-log your word count. this is interesting to look back on every new year's eve, and it provides accountability. do this however you like; a spreadsheet, a physical notebook, a note in your phone, each day's section in your planner, whatever works for you. i have a channel in my personal discord server where i log mine.

-do NOT edit as you go. just write write write. if you feel like something you wrote needs work, yeah, it probably does-- everything needs to be edited, but that's a problem for later. highlight sentences you can't get right or make note of them to edit LATER. but do not edit as you go!

-write self-indulgent crap. fanfiction, shitty poetry, manifestos, rants, self insert fantasy romance, whatever floats your boat. having a shitty self-indulgent backup story to work on when i didn't feel like writing for the projects i cared about really helped get me in the habit. write for an audience of one!

-journal if you can't write. this may not necessarily build your skill as much as writing regular prose would, but it does help you maintain the habit and it can be useful in lots of other ways.

-think outside the box. write trivia questions. write a list of your favorite childhood toys. write a review of the book you're reading. i'm writing this post, that's going toward my word count for the day. again, this is still writing, and it helps maintain the habit.

-get comfortable writing on your phone. this took me a long time, but making it over this hurdle has saved my habit so many times.

you'll be surprised at the cool shit you end up writing on those days when you swore you weren't inspired enough. and you'll be delighted with how much progress you will make honing your craft!

happy writing! if you have any questions about how to implement any of these tips, our ask box is always open.

Okay so, I've been waving the Google Drive and Docs flag like it's my own personal banner for ages. I mean, it's been my ride or die, my trusty sidekick through countless projects and late-night writing sessions for over +6 years now. But in November last year, during Nanowrimo, I decided to get the trial for Scrivener after I saw the add when I completed the challenge. I installed it and chose to let it live in my computer but never "really" dipped toes in it cause Google Docs and Drive ARE my jam (and I hate changes but that's another topic for another day). So I decide to open it, you know, this april (I know it's ate but hey) ? But not gonna lie, I was skeptical.

I mean, the interface alone looked like it could swallow me whole, and my poor scattered attention span was already shaking in its boots. I would rather face a haunted house than an application full of features because me and technology ? When it works, I like it but when it doesn't, good God and pancakes above- But I did try. And went from skeptical to pleasantly surprised. Sure the interface looks scary af, too much stuff you gotta check out BUT-.... It's like the fairy godmother of organization swooped in and blessed my writing life. I'm talking files for days, characters and places neatly tucked away, notes that actually make sense, and research that feels like a breeze to manage. And the formatting? Don't even get me started. It's like having a magic wand that just waves away all my worries about how my writing should look. As someone who has spent way too much time fiddling with font sizes and margins, discovering that Scrivener takes care of that for me? It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Now, instead of obsessing over the perfect font, I can focus on what really matters – telling my story.

You can add files, images, pages links, anything really (not sure about videos yet though or music, gotta check this out). I hate organization because it means clearing up my ideas, maybe throwing some away but this is necessary and just because one doesn't make it in this one, doesn't mean she won't be there in another.

Like, seriously. I know, I know, it looks like a lot (and let's be real, it is), but I promise it's worth-it. So, if you're anything like me, drowning in a sea of half-baked ideas and forgotten plotlines with an attention span shorter than a butterfly's lifespan, do yourself a favor and give Scrivener a shot. Trust me, your future self will thank you for it.

When seeking commercial success with writing you need to be realistic. Just because something shouldn’t be the way it is doesn’t mean you can ignore that reality.

What I mean: 

People do judge a book by it’s cover, unless you’re talented and have done your research it will negatively impact you not to pay a professional.

Marketing a book isn’t about how good your book is. It’s an entirely different skillset you’ll need to pick up whether you get indie published or traditionally published. 

If you’re writing something niche you can’t expect the marketing advice of people writing and selling something with wide scale appeal to work for you. You’ll need to find a way to advertise directly to the communities that surround your niche. 

Bigots read and buy books.

Publishing a book is fucking expensive but cutting corners is quickly noticeable. 

Publishers don’t take as many risks as they should, they’re increasingly letting indie authors take risks and prove that certain types of story can make it. You might have to wait for someone else to prove your kind of story works in the indie space to get any traction in the trad space.

I doubt any of these really surprise anyone. But anytime something is unfair or wrong in publishing whether indie or trad I see a lot of writers say something like ‘well people shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover so I’m making my own anyway’ as if saying that somehow changes reality. Let’s be realistic but hopeful and defiant as we head into 2023. Like the pragmatic side character who’s with the hero till the bitter end.

(Also how else are we meant to judge your book in a sea of others, when there’s so many that picking one off the shelf or clicking on to see the blurb is a decision of itself??) 

HELLO WRITERS AND POETS OF TUMBLR! DO YOU WANT TO GET PUBLISHED IN A LITERARY JOURNAL?

For years I've been submitting to literary journals and gotten fed up with the process, so I've decided to start my own! It's called Goosewax! There is NO submission fee and NO long waiting period! Already published your work to Tumblr, Wattpad, Substack, etc? Not a problem. I have no issues with accepting previously published work!

Obviously this journal is brand new, so I can't claim any kind of prestige, but it is an official literary journal and your work would be considered published! This means that in all your cover letters from now on, you could list publication in a journal. You'd also be helping an independent journal get its feet off the ground.

There are very few rules to submit, but be sure to read them on the Submissions page linked below. Basically I accept short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry all with a maximum of 5k words (no fanfiction please, only works that don't require knowledge of particular media). Since I don't have a backlog to get through right now, turnaround time will be lightning fast and if you choose to provide an email (optional) you'll hear back about your submission in a day or two. Here's the submission page:

You can also email me at [email protected] with your submission attached, if you prefer. If you have trouble with either of these, feel free to DM me on Tumblr. You can also remain entirely anonymous if you'd like, or be published under a username. It's up to you! If you don't wish to submit, reblogs are GREATLY appreciated as I try to get this thing going. I am super excited about this project and I can't wait to read your submissions!

I've just finished my first novel and am looking for ways to market it. A friend of mine mentioned NetGalley, but I've only ever used it as a reader. Do you know anything about how writers use it?

Thanks!

Ooh, we love NetGalley! I (Pamela) have been a long-time NetGalley user on the reader side, but it definitely has a lot to offer indie authors, too, not just trad published ones.

Check out this post in the Reading Room for the Pros and Cons of NetGalley if you're a self-published author.

for the self-publishing AMA: what resources did you use to learn about marketing a self-published book?

Resources for Marketing a Self-Published Book

Marketing can make or break your book! Here are some tips, and topics to further research.

Have a great cover. It truly is how people judge a book, and if your cover itself can help sell the book, that’s a win. This means eye-catching and unique while still fulfilling genre expectations.

Do a cover reveal to build up excitement

Add your book to Goodreads

Use ARC readers to receive reviews before and on launch day

Do a preorder campaign

Consider offering preorder incentives! Little freebies like stickers, bookmarks, early access to a few chapters, etc

Get on BookTok and Bookstagram and make use of IG Reels

Do a giveaway

Build your email list by using incentives. I give the first chapter away for free for every signup

Consider using Amazon ads once your book is up

And finally:

Never stop marketing. You may be done writing and your book may be out in the world, but this is anything but passive income. You need to keep being in love with your book and sharing that with the world!

Please ask any other questions you have, and let me know if you’d like me to expand on something!

Happy publishing!

I asked my friend to proofread my book because I KNOW I did not catch all the typos, and

I tried so hard to cut down on my comma usage and now she's adding half of them back in and I am never going to understand comma usage am I?

I apparently never understand to vs too either.

some things are stylistic choices and I'm KEEPING them because it's a CHOICE

And we're also fighting in the document comments because she's trying to correct my British English uses to American English and GIRL WE ARE CANADIAN WE USE BRITISH and because I typed somethings in Chicago-style format (old habits from university days) and she's trying to change it to APA.

Authors, I cannot stress this enough if you are writing characters with a lived experience different from your own, hire a sensitivity reader for said identity. It’s so worth it, I promise. I completely rewrote my book based on my sensitivity reader’s feedback, and it’s a MUCH better book for it. It allowed me to explore certain characters in a deeper way and challenged me to think about the plot differently. I learned how easy it is to miss certain harmful tropes or character dynamics simply because I didn’t know to look for them, and I’m glad I got that feedback now before it had the potential to make a reader feel icky about the book.

And when I say hire a sensitivity reader, I don’t mean ask your friend to do it, I mean hire someone who’s job it is specifically to do it. ✨Pay them✨ In my opinion it’s also better if a stranger does it, because they’re less likely to downplay things to spare your feelings. Also in my experience, my sensitivity reader had only worked with large publishing houses looking to get something checked off a list. She’d not worked with an indie author before, and actually gave my book a second reading for free because she could tell my end goal was creating authentic representation. So hire a sensitivity reader today to help you write a better book!

Clairels Booktok Tip of the Day

If like me, you're planning on publishing and totally overwhelmed by this BookTok thing, this is a genuinely useful post that provides actual examples of what these types of popular BookTok posts look like and how to go about doing them. (Granted, I have yet to actually do any of these things, but I might soon!).

Interested in indie publishing opportunities? Here's a nice article on things to think about before you take the plunge.

Invisible Authors

I wish I was as successful as Richard Castle. He has a fabulous NYC apartment, another home on the coast and he spends money without having to think about the cost or value.

There are a few authors whose books have made them rich (over $20m in 2018 alone), such as JK Rowling, Stephen King and John Grisham but, in reality, the top 10% of writers account for 70% of all income from books and less than 14% of authors can rely on writing as a sole source of their income.

A survey was carried out by the University of Glasgow of 50,000 authors' earnings this century. From an average author income of £18,013 in 2006, it fell by 52.65% to £10,497 in 2018. I began writing in 2019 - great timing, eh?

But I'm not doing this to make millions, although covering costs is good. When one plans retirement, they often take up painting or, in my case, writing. Any profit I receive from selling my books is carefully calculated each year (income declared, of course) and 50% of those profits are donated to a charity for the homeless.

If you are considering self-publishing, here is an article you might find interesting. I wish you the very best of luck with your writing and publishing.

we want to edit your book!

or short story, or personal essay, or podcast script, or... whatever. you make it, we shake it. you write it, we smite it. you draft it, we craft it. and so on.

WHY should you trust us with your masterpiece?

meet arin! they have a b.a. in english literature and creative writing. they've worked as a writing tutor, written for a literary magazine at california state university, written an interactive novella (among many other projects), and edited novels.

meet nat! she has a b.a. in professional writing. she's worked as a writing tutor, written for 3 small business' websites, written and edited for a newsletter at university of idaho, written and edited training manuals and other professional reference documents, edited dozens of resumes, and edited novels. she is currently in the second edit of her novel.

both of us have been writing and editing for friends basically our whole lives. we live and breathe writing and reading. we live writing, and we breathe reading, or something. basically we are PASSIONATE and we would love to work for you.

HOW do we get started?

send us a dm on here or our instagram projecttreehouseediting, email us at projecttreehouse.co at gmail dot com, or throw a crumpled up letter into your local river, we'll find it.

tell us about your project. we'll work with your budget and your goals to make a plan of action. you will get a customized, high quality, timely deliverable, specifically engineered to help you achieve your goals. we also offer discord chat sessions, where we can help you outline your book, flesh out your characters, or really whatever you want.

we aim to empower and uplift writers. we provide the tools to mold your ideas into your greatest work.

so let's get started!

Can you give me tips about characterization and story writing and how let you readers keep up with your upcoming chapters ?

Sure! I’d love to!

So, for me, my tips should probably be taken as a grain of salt because what works for me might not work for everyone, but I’m always happy to share!

1. Physical Characterization: with this one, the best tip I can give is to start off small. Figure out the basics of your character. You know, stuff like “they’re smart, creative, and impulsive” and figure out a few basics of what they look like, find specific details to focus on. Like the design of their freckles or if they have a crooked nose or a facial scar, or big ears. Try to find distinct and easy ways to recognize your characters through both physical and personality traits. For instance, my character Kya is petite, she has black hair that matches the dark shade of her eyes, she has a small beauty mark below her left eye and wears round glasses. However her most distinct and signature trait is that she wears hair bows, usually a blue one. Now she’s easily recognizable to the audience. Now you’re going to associate hair bows with Kya. Association works wonders, find traits for people to associate with your characters.

2. Personality Characterization: Personality wise, you’re gonna want to do the same thing, you’ll want to figure out some signature personality t traits that make it easy to associate with your character and really make them stand out! For instance, with Kya, some of her most common traits is that she’s witty, charismatic, and impulsive. If someone is causing chaos in the background, it’s usually a safe get to assume it’s her. Now she’s not only easy to find in a crowd based off of her looks, but her personality as well! Try to find things unique to your characters, something that really helps drive home who they are and make them easily recognizable to the audience, try to make sure they have iconic and memorable traits in not just their physical appearance (including how they dress) but also their personality! Hope this helped!

3. Story Writing: This is probably unhelpful but honestly? Just start writing. Listen, you can plot, outline, and think about your story all you want but you don’t actually know what’s going to happen until you start to write it. For me, personally, I usually make multiple outlines and change them the further into the story I get, my stories rarely follow along the original plans I had for them, they take off and become their own thing. Now, outlining and plotting can be really important, and I think it’s a good idea to take a minute and write down the main things you want to happen in your story and when they should happen, but don’t be too upset if you don’t stick to it, follow the natural flow of your story and let your characters help guide you over where to go. I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, but one of the best things you can do is listen to your characters and let them help you figure out where the story needs to go!

4. Promoting: Alright, this is gonna be the one I struggle to help you with the most. I keep my readers updated by prompting new episodes (as I write serial fiction) through social media platforms, I usually give them a little snippet of what the next episode holds and then direct them to where they can find it. This seems to work, however you also have to have readers who wanna read your work, and unfortunately, I’m still figuring out how to get readers invested in my story! I’m hoping that they’ll see how much genuine love I have for my story, my world, and especially my characters and feel drawn to it, but it’s still a major work in progress. Another thing that helps is to make a newsletter! Though I’m also still working on that as well.

This is about all I‘ve got, I hope this helped, and thanks for the ask! I’m always happy to answer!