Wes is a writer who finds much fodder in his day job as a member of the San Diego Police Dept. We look forward to helping him promote his debut novel that 

will be published soon. It's about crime and cops...of course!

A Successful Way to Build Your Platform

As a writer, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing about the importance of building your platform. You’ve tried blogging, tweeting, and facebooking, and apart from a few friends, you rarely get comments, let alone new followers. Why is that? Why aren’t people paying attention to what you have to say? Why aren’t they coming over to read your posts?
You get discouraged and start thinking, “Why bother? It’s not worth my time,” and so you quit

Most students had not pitched yet. Those that had agreed with most of you: query letter writing is hard. This kind of 'business' writing is harder for some than writing an

entire novel!  

What I told them is worth repeating:

Whether you decide to travel down the indie road or publish traditionally, you will have to hook your reader.

That's what the query letter does.

I’ve been so busy lately producing videos that I haven’t had a chance to write a blog post, and blogging is something I have to do to build my author platform. Having video about you, and your books is another good way of building your author platform. Book trailers and author pitch videos are popping up all over the web, so I thought I’d blog about how authors can make videos to help them market their writing.

She cited Samuel Johnson as a source of inspiration. When asked why he chose to marry again after a failed first marriage, Johnson replied "It's the triumph of hope over experience!"

Few authors write brilliantly AND market well.

Listen to TC Boyle discuss his writing process with NYT editor Sam Tenenhaus.

Interview highlights: 

Asked about his relative 'ease' at giving interviews, Boyle replies, "I'm a ham...!" 

Where does he find inspiration? "Anytime I want to find something out, I write a novel."

(Click URL to watch the video interview)

What defines it?

Writers often confuse memoir writing with other narrative non fiction which includes autobiographical writing.

So what is a memoir?

Think of it as a turning point—that time in life when crisis catapulted you in some significant way. Read good memoirs. Favorites of mine include Drinking: A Love Story and Eat, Pray Love. Commonalities to both: pivotal moments that anchor the telling of these tales. For Caroline Knapp, it was the day she almost killed her friend’s daughter during a drunken spree. For Elizabeth Gilbert, the night she ended up in the fetal position on her bathroom floor sobbing; the night that turned into her turning point.

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[Note: Questions reflect the perspective of a Russian reader who does not know how things work in the USA.]