Warning: Highly editorial content ahead. May cause feels. May result in irritation.

Write on, my friend. Though only the paper sees your words, and only the pen is washed clean inside with their meaning, write on. Only through writing will the writer live, and only through writing will his mind be set free.

Sometimes as a writer, especially a self-published or unpublished writer, we feel defeated when we think nobody is reading our work. Sometimes we labor for years on a story, suffer through everything our myriad characters suffer through, only to experience the ultimate tragic ending: to not have it be READ. There is something heartbreaking about lovingly creating an entire world only to have it, seemingly, ignored by readers.

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In 2013, over 602,000 writers embarked on a challenge to write a novel of 50,000 words in a single month. Every year participants celebrate National Novel Writing Month with NaNoWriMo by stocking up on their favorite beverage, laying out their inspirational charms, and pecking out novels on their computers. A community has grown up around the site and the event, supporting writers of all genres and experience levels.

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There are many, MANY sites out there devoted to helping writers on the road to creating their content. There are just as many sites that have compilations of these resources. In case this is your first stop on the road to internet research about writing, allow us to point to a few for you. (This post may be updated as sites come and go, or resources grow.)

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One of the biggest questions for self-publishing authors, is what to charge for your ebooks. Many sources will tell you that there’s a “magic number” or a formula or something that will answer this question for you, but in reality it’s not that simple. Different audiences, genres, regions, and marketing approaches all lend themselves to different pricing habits.

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The process of publishing your ebook can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. This handy how-to guide will help you work through it easily, and show you what to expect. Link to Simply Written to read more

Most writers suffer from a creative breakdown at some point or another, and many would-be authors are derailed entirely by these problems. Life intrudes on writing time, or distractions make the project drag out, sapping the energy and drive of the writer. Without a plan, writing starts to take a backseat to things that are more urgent, or easier to accomplish. The writer’s mind begins to seek out time-sinks, making excuses as to why they aren’t writing.

The key to preventing this from happening to your writing is having a plan. Not every writer’s plan will be the same, just as not every writer feeds on words in the same way, but every successful writer will have a plan. In a very broad sense, this plan will have four key parts: ideas, focus, goals, and a schedule.

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There is a form of punctuation called the semicolon. (It’s the one that looks like a comma with a period stacked on top of it.) In my time as a copyeditor I’ve slashed out more semicolons than I care to count, usually due to overuse or misuse. I prefer to think of the semicolon as a supercomma. It helps me to remember the proper usage of the beast.

So what is it?

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Simply Written was created with authors in mind. It’s a tool. It’s a creation aid that provides the author with clean, beautiful files that can be published as ebooks.

The publishing process, on the other hand, is complicated.

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The subject of DRM (Digital Rights Management) is a hugely controversial one. Supporters are avid that it protects the writer (and the publisher or retailer) from people stealing their content. Those against DRM say that it merely inconveniences users, and provides publishers a way to punish usage they disagree with.

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In 2011, Bowker (the agency responsible for assigning ISBN codes to all the books in the US) reported that approximately 43% of the books printed for the year were listed as being self-published. They also noted a rise in the listing of ebooks that are self-published, but because not all outlets require an ISBN (and Bowker only counts the ISBNs) the number was likely much higher than they recorded. It’s estimated that in 2008, ebooks accounted for 1% of all published books, but by 2014 that ratio rose to nearly 35%.

Why the sudden increase in self-publishing? In past years an author would write their masterpiece, then search out an agent; or cold contact a publishing house, praying to get someone to notice their work and want to buy it from them. A very small percentage of authors ever made it past the submission stage. Rejection letters would pile up over the years while waiting on a publisher to take notice.

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