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Hello SErs. Harmony here.  As promised, here is  part twenty in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links at the end of this post.

So, here’s Part Twenty: How to create your Amazon Author page and using Author Central.

Every author needs an Amazon Author page. This is how your (gazillions of 😜 ) fans will find out more about you and browse the rest of the books on your bookshelf.

Amazon Author Central is where you can create and maintain your Author Page, including claiming books that might not appear on your shelf automatically, such as anthologies, etc.

To create an Author Central…

Hi, SEers! Mae here. It turns out I have one more NaNoWriMo post to share. Congratulations to all who participated, and a special cyber cheer to those who “won.” No matter how many words you added in November, I applaud you for taking on the challenge and shining a spotlight on the writing community. I ended the month with a smidgen over 35K, progress I’m more than happy with.

Now, it’s December. All the fanfare and fuss of writing at light-speed is over, but now it’s time to begin clean-up. Even if you push this off past the holidays (or later) eventually you’re going to need to take a hard look at your manuscript. If you didn’t participate, you can apply these tips to any WIP in your arsenal.

ADD WORD COUNT
If you started your WIP from scratch, 50K is too short for many genres. It works for some…

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Let’s talk about editing.

I recently read a book that had a good plot. The story was intriguing. The writing grammatically correct. I didn’t find any spelling or punctuation errors. Sound like the person had a good editor, right?

Not necessarily. Throughout the book, there were countless repeated words. Here are two examples.

“Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning, opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.”

Or this:

“Yardley knew she was lucky to be a federal prosecutor. The state prosecutors were overworked and had little time to help in any investigations or interviews. Federal prosecutors could pick and choose their cases and take all the time they needed. Whereas a state prosecutor

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Hi, SEers, it is John with you again. The last couple of times, I have talked through some of the emotional sides of writing. I did a post on burnout and one on motivation. If you missed them, you can go Here and Here. This time I would like to discuss another topic that can put writing on a side rail. I’m referring to the absence of a story idea.

I think we have all experienced the situation where we sit in front of our computer or notebook, have coffee or whatever is the habit of the day, and have plenty of uninterrupted time. What we don’t have is a clear idea of where we want our story to go. For the pansters, there may not even be a story. This is when most of us tell ourselves we have lost our muse.

The loss of a…

Hello, SEers. Mae here on the second to last Friday in November. Most of the month is behind us. If you live in the States, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I know we’re all anxious to bid goodbye to 2020, but this month feels like it’s blown past at lightspeed. Maybe that’s because I’ve been writing like a speed demon. This is my last NaNoWriMo post of the year, so I hope you’ll bear with me—especially given it’s about more than NaNo.

Let’s talk writing. Whether you’re chasing 50K in thirty days, or plugging away as usual, the goal is to create. To make progress on your WIP. We all have one, right? There is rarely a time when there isn’t a manuscript in some semblance of completion. If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, you’re either adding to that or you’ve started something from scratch.

The NaNo plan is to…

Hello SEers. John, with you today to discuss motivation.

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I feel a little like the resident coach when it comes to my topics here on Story Empire. I think that is true because I am concerned that those who have chosen to be authors (Yes, that’s you) work in an environment that, for the most part, is self-driven. Unless you have a big contract with Random House, the words you write are words you choose to write at a pace you choose to write them. With all that freedom comes the pitfalls associated with self-directed productivity.

What are those pitfalls? Here are just a few procrastination, self-doubt, poor time management, and lack of motivation.

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Given the title of the post, I want to discuss the last one, motivation. I have been seeing a lot of correspondence where authors seem to be commiserating with each other on…

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. This post is going to be short and (hopefully) sweet. Many writers and would-be authors around the world are knee-deep in NaNoWriMo.

While I chose not to take part this year, I have done it in the past. It’s not something you just decide to do. No matter if you’re a plotter or a panster, to succeed at this 50K word challenge, you have to plan and find the right balance to succeed.

NaNo aside, writers have to make time to write. Many of us hold full-time jobs. We have families. There are social events to attend. And unless you’re independently wealthy and can afford a house full of servants, there are a variety of household chores to do. Somewhere in all that, we need time to sleep. Is it any wonder we’re often lucky to have three or four hours per week…