My Publishing Journey

I have some exciting news: I am officially an Author Mentor Match mentee! What is Author Mentor Match? According to their website: “Author Mentor Match (AMM) pairs aspiring writers with completed manuscripts with experienced authors for mentorship.” In other words, I get personalized help on my manuscript from an experienced and talented author, and I…

Throughout my publishing journey, I have met the most AMAZING authors! Everyone needs a support system for when they hit those plot holes, are deep in the querying trenches, and when they publish their first book. On my journey, I met the wonderful Chelsea Lauren. She is the author of Creatures Most Vile, a spooky…

Every age range, every genre, has a target word count you should aim for. It can be a pain in the butt, and there are outlier, but it’s industry standard: Adult fiction: 80-100k Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 90-120k Romance: 50-100k Crime/Mysteries/Thrillers/Horror: 70-90k Young adult: 50-80k But, when my finished my adult fantasy manuscript, it was 160,000…

When I wrote my first draft, I had an outline, character sheets, and everything I needed to get going. But once it was on paper, it lacked the magical appeal I saw in my head. I knew the story could be stronger. So, I stopped writing it before I even wrote the ending. All I…

Drafting your manuscript is fun, but you can’t forget the most important step: editing! Whether you hire an editor, get feedback from a beta reader, or get an edit letter from an agent or publisher, you’re going to have to digest the information. These are the steps I take to whip my novel into tip…

I took on the mother of all writing sprints: National Novel Writing Month. A.K.A. NaNoWriMo. It’s the event where you attempt to write 50k words throughout the month of November. It can be a challenge, full of distractions and writers block, but it’s also a great way to develop the habit of writing. I recorded…