Let's talk about revisions. That is, revisions once you've finished your drafts and you think you have it as good as you can get it (or are so sick you won't read your own work again without crying) and want to send it out.
Alpha & Beta Readers
I stopped using alph and beta readers a few years ago. It was not worth the level of feedback I was getting. There are ways around that to improve, and if you work with and allow for multiple people to do it and enough ...
2022-02-10 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Here's a strange little post about advice, rankings and reviewing individuals.
One of the most important things about taking advice in the self-publishing business is knowing who you're taking advice from. If someone is giving you advice on how to sell well but then aren't selling well... you should run.
That's the general line and advice given to people by those in the know. And that's not wrong. Certainly, things that are important when weighing advice include:
- number of...
2022-02-03 04:00:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
To celebrate Chinese New Year, I wrote a piece of flash fiction. What would happen if Wu Ying stepped into the world of Sarah Lin's Street Cultivation...?
Download the story now: https://BookHip.com/KZTKLCL
2022-02-02 17:01:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
I wanted to talk about something I see happen a lot. The way a lot of indie authors discount paperbacks. Discount as in, not use. Now, I've had a previous post about paperbacks before but the concentration was on how to create them, how to use them, etc. The process.
Let's talk about the business strategy point.
Before that though, just a little quote from the end.
2022-01-26 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Since we didn't have time to release the chapters prior to the release of A Royal Ending (Adventures on Brad #9), here is the book for all patrons in the Advanced tier and higher.
Get your copy here: https://BookHip.com/BFDAHDC
2022-01-24 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Recently, there's been a rash of comments / complaints / concerns about Amazon kicking out authors from their system due to an automated software running amok. This happens every few years, and newer authors get worried they might get targetted.
And don't get me wrong, we all worry about it. Getting hit by these random systems, having your account yanked, is painful. Solving the issue can take a few days to a few weeks, though I have yet to hear of an account that has been removed entir...
2022-01-19 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
The third short story in the Vampire LitRPG short story series, Eternal Night, Blood Knowledge is ready!
Click here to read on Bookfunnel: https://BookHip.com/CBKDLHJ
You can download and read the first two books here under the other short ...
2022-01-13 20:30:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Tao's marketing assistant, Steph, here!
Ever wonder what goes into our book launches?
Town Under, the first in a co-written System Apocalypse project with K.T. Hanna, released 2 1/2 months ago. On release day, it hit #291 in the entire Kindle US store (woo!). It’s slowly dropped to the #5,000s since then, following a similar pattern as a previous co-author project, System Apocalypse: Relentless (which peaked at #668 in the Kindle Store and hovered in a #5,000s two months post-re...
2022-01-12 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sorry for the silence. Happy New Year to everyone. Things have been, well, interesting.
On general writing things:
- SA 12 (System Finale) is now with the editor
- SA 11 audiobook has come out, it's purchasable or you can pick up the Audible book when it gets approved. If you want the audio early, let us know via message; we'll get it to you otherwise, ACX codes for all.
- SA:AU 2 (Flat Out) is now at editors too.
- SA: Relentless 2 is cheduled for around May for...
2022-01-06 20:59:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
We've got another short story audio for this week, claim your copy here: https://BookHip.com/ZJAGATP
Fish Ball Quest from the A Thousand Li short stories series, narrated by Travis Baldree.
Enjoy!
2021-12-20 21:30:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
We've got the audio for My Grandmother's Tea Club, a System Apocalypse short story.
To redeem your copy please visit: https://BookHip.com/CAZWZHC
2021-12-16 22:00:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hi all!
This month's short story is here! The Great Black Sea which is part of the System Apocalypse short stories.
You can download your copy here https://BookHip.com/MQWRTKX
Enjoy!
2021-12-14 21:30:59 +0000 UTC
View Post
There's a Twitter thread going around now, about Scalzi's lack of writing and how he's a part-time writer. He has a reply about it, about all the things that writers do that aren't part of 'writing'.
And a lot of it rings true. Like, this year, non-writing things that I have done...
- Go to...
2021-12-08 19:34:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hi, Jenn here,
Tao wrote a short story, this one isn't part of any other universe. Enjoy!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/w9uxzqe1zi
2021-11-29 18:28:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
As the title says, I haven't managed to write the short. I'm so sorry - my brain is so focused on getting System finale done, i haven't had time to look at my shorts. I have a few that are half-done, but just nothing that is complete.
It doesn't help that the last book has a huge cast of characters, Skills and plot threads that I want to wrap up and I keep finding things I'm missing.
It really, really doesn't help that I have an upper respiratory tract infection. I had to stop wor...
2021-11-26 13:56:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
Alright, let's talk about 20booksto50k Vegas. Now that it's over, I figured I'd do a simple con report, reflecting on it and the previous convention I was at.
Headline: I enjoyed myself for the most part and would recommend it to anyone looking to make contacts or learn the business.
Firstly, for those who can't afford to go to conventions.
2021-11-24 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
So, I got into a Nanowrimo Storybundle with my Marketing Strategy for Authors book and, along with just regular sales, I've managed to build up a tiny sum. Since I don't really need to fund my lifestyle, and because of a previous experience helping a friend put out his book (Anubis War), I've decided to create a small grant.
Emphasis on small.
So her...
2021-11-24 16:28:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
Yeah, I'm a little sick again, after coming back from 20books. Hacking up a lung with disgusting phlegm.
Because of that, I've pushed back release date to March 1, 2022. I really feel like I should have set it a year back, then just yank it forward. I should, hopefully, manage to hit the deadline for my editing; but that's no guarantee what with being sick and my con.
Oh yeah, I got Discon III in December this year. I'll be on a bunch of online panels and a couple of in-pers...
2021-11-22 21:27:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
URL: https://www.mylifemytao.com/?p=6127
Password: 8@MARSHall0
2021-11-21 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
Alright, writing this soon after the writing conference for World Fantasy was done. Now, note that I came in a weird year, where it's like a 1/5 of the size, so the 200 or so people (if that) was tiny. Colour your perceptions and what not that way.
Firstly, a cavaet - I had not truly realised how much of a writer conference this was. I had thought it was more of a mixed conference, sort of like Dragoncon but more focused. Nope. It's VERY much a writer conference.
I went in and did...
2021-11-18 01:00:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
URL: https://www.mylifemytao.com/?p=5810
Password: 8LUX&teams0
2021-11-14 14:01:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
I wanted to write about co-authoring since I thought it's an interesting way of both boosting one's own sales as well as providing aid to those authors who might be a little further down the ladder than you. Thus far, I've had 3 co-authored books launch, and I'm working on another 3 right now (two with existing co-authors, a third with a new one and a fourth to be discussed).
Quick background - I do decently well in my sub-genre, with many of my books in my main series launching in the ...
2021-11-10 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
