Hello, SE readers! Mae with you today. If you’re a writer, at some point or another, you’ve probably considered using a pen name. Authors use pen names for various reasons ranging from privacy, to branding, to multi-genre writing.

Privacy is huge, especially in an online world where self-promotion is all but mandatory. I admit I’ve always been freaky about Facebook. Before I started publishing, I neither wanted nor had anything to do with it. As an author, I had to embrace it, but even that was a reluctant endeavor. Eventually, FB and I parted ways, but it’s still necessary that I promote myself elsewhere. If you’re an author, privacy only goes so far.

I’m fortunate that “Mae Clair” works in multiple genres. If I wanted to write hard-boiled crime thrillers, I might become M.L. Clair, but I can move around pretty easily with my name.

Those who are familiar with…

Good morning to all the Story Empire readers, PH here today with a topic you may not have thought about but probably should. I’ve touched on this subject in posts about using your meta-content (story bible) for dual purposes, but I wanted to revisit the idea of reader guides and the variety of information that you can develop from your data content. If you’re interested, read Marcia Meara’s recent post about Author’s Notes which is closely related in concept with reader guides and focuses on using different forms of engaging readers in your books. Likewise, Staci Toilo recently shared about Churn and Transmedia which describes how to gain an avid audience. The ideas about transmedia directly relate to the usage of reader guides.

A reader guide (transmedia and author’s notes are essentially the same) is simply any additional information you can provide to readers in a variety of formats…

Hey, SE Readers. Happy Friday. Joan with you today with the second in a two-part series on changing literary styles.

In the first post, I used examples from James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Today we’ll look at two of my favorite authors.

I first read Agatha Christie in high school. Her Hercule Poirot stories are among my favorites, particularly Murder on The Orient Express. She was a master at writing intriguing plots, throwing in enough twists to keep readers guessing until the end.

I recently read, And Then There Were None for the first time. Initially published in 1939, it’s the world’s best-selling mystery, having sold over 100 million copies, and is one of the all time best-selling books among all genres.

As I started to read, I realized how much writing styles have changed.

The driver said, addressing his remarks…

“Lucy. What are we doing here?
“The Boss is a contributor here, Twiggy.”
“I don’t see any biscuits.”
“I think he’ll fix that. Keep smiling.”

Hello, SEers. I am delighted to be part of The Story Empire group. I have long admired the members and followers and am pleased to now be a part of the team. I feel like a kid who has been looking at penny candy with his nose pressed against the display case glass, and the shop keeper invites me to take my pick.

The good news is I’m in. The bad news is now I have to go to work.  As you know by now, you can find a wealth of information on writing, publishing, and organization on The Story Empire. The authors here have a lot of experience and are willing to share.

To that end, for my first post, I’m going to discuss…

Hi, SEers! It’s a Tuesday, a non-normal post day for us, so you know what that means—time for a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! <insert drum rolls, fanfare, and parades>

We don’t roll these types of posts out that often, but when we do, we have news we want the world to know.

Today, we’re doing cartwheels—well, virtual cartwheels for most of us, but it goes without saying we’re giddy.

Why? Story Empire is adding another new member. Huzzah!

Please welcome John Howell, who will be sharing his first post tomorrow. John is an excellent author, an all-around terrific guy, and a fabulous supporter of others. A real class act.

We couldn’t be happier that he accepted our invitation to join us at the Empire.

High five to John! We look forward to his posts and hope you’ll make him feel welcome.

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Hey, SE Readers. Joan here to help roll out the…

Ciao, amici! Today, I’m going to throw some industry buzzwords at you and talk about churn rate and transmedia storytelling (which I’m sure you figured out already because of the title) and how we can lower the first by increasing the second.

Definitions:

Churn rate is the speed at which someone moves on to the next thing. In our industry, it’s how fast a reader gets tired of our work and moves on to another book or author.

Transmedia storytelling is the technique of telling a single story across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.

Analysis:

In today’s market, churn rate is high, which is bad for creators. There are roughly 2,000,000 books published each year, which equates to nearly 5,500 a day. Can you read that many books a day? And those are new titles. All the existing books you haven’t read aren’t going away. These 5,500…

Hi gang, Craig with you again. Today, I’m fighting with myself over some things I hold true in writing. I look at writing as a personal journey of improvement, and I can see that improvement from book to book. Here are the two mantras that seem to have found a way to be in conflict with each other. Then I’ll explain the conflict.

1.) A story should be as long as it needs to be.

2.) Never give them a reason to say, no.

Here’s the situation as it relates to word counts. I just finished a draft the morning of this writing that comes to 111,500 words. This is a fantasy book, and part of a series (Lanternfish), so the word count isn’t completely unacceptable. It might be a train wreck as a cozy mystery or something.

I have another series that’s dark humor with a target of around…