How do you feel about supporting other authors? There are a lot of us fiction writers around, and we all have stories to tell. Will all of us be successful? In part, that depends on our definition of success. If that definition relies solely on book sales, developing a huge fan base, and making enough money to live the "good life," we might not succeed. 

Amanda Blackwood at her recent book signing at Barnes & Noble, Westminster, CO When I first started this journey I had no idea where it would take me. I knew I had to tell my story of surviving human trafficking but I had no idea how it would turn out. I started telling pieces of my story many years ago on a blog of my own. Eventually some of the more involved, lengthy stories were taken down from the blog and turned into small books. That was the start of everything for me. I’d always wanted to write a book but never saw it as being a possibility. The very idea of writing an entire book seemed so daunting and overwhelming. When I took down a couple of continuation blogs and put them into a single document, I discovered that not only had I already accomplished one of my bucket list items, but that I had something I was proud of. At first I did try to seek out traditional publishing. I had an acquaintance with connections in the publishing industry and I almost got a foot in

The title for this post that first came to mind when I decided on a topic was "Writer Beware." Then after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that awareness of simple mistakes we all make at one time or another was more apt.  Ever since a writer friend posted a comment on Twitter that maybe characters in our stories don’t need to nod all the time I’ve become super-sensitive to that movement. In a book I’m currently reading there’s a lot of nodding going on, and I have to wonder if I would’ve noticed that before the Twitter posting. In reply to his tweet I commented that when we have a character nod, we don't have to say “nodded his or her head,” pointing out that there really isn’t another part of the body that one would nod. Of course, if we write sci-fi and have an alien species without a head, that character might nod an elbow or a knee, but for those of us who people our books with humans, we do know what part of the body is used for nodding. Many of the other

  Elle Carter Neal interviewed by Angela Sedran of Heads Over Heels, talking about how business coaches, public speakers, or small business owners can learn to write and publish a book on their topics of expertise - even if they don't consider themselves "writers". Elle shares tips for pulling together content quickly and (relatively) painlessly, and discusses the three main considerations to take into account when deciding between traditional- and self-publishing. Learn more at Fully Booked Author , and subscribe to the FBA Vault for access to a new free guidebook, checklist, or video tip each week.