Hahaha, so relatable 😂 I have to try this out next time😅

Thank you for the tips, and you looked great

I downloaded the kindle version of your NF book. Only had time to read the first chapter, but i've eally enjoyed what i've read so far. Basically every sentence rocked! Definitely laughed a lot!

Some great points here - thank you! As someone (attempting) to write my first novel, your point about over-planning and “boxing yourself in” really resonated. I’m definitely a planner/big picture person by nature and one of my issues is the dreaded “paralysis by analysis”. I’ve absorbed a lot of frameworks for novels and screenwriting and feel I have a story idea that moves me, but I can never seem to get down to point of just writing. Any suggestions? Should I just start writing anything (even if it’s bad, perhaps?) just to get going?

Thanks, I look for a walk-through like this. but a lot of people think it's in nessisary then follow trends giving advice you find in 12 other videos. Can't search for a video like this either because you just get arbitrary rules to write videos you have to untangle yourself. Tbh I just have a hard time connecting these individual things i study a lesson at a time or explore my experiences on. on top of the writing blocks you described. Things like character and plot and arcs and when I should start worldbuilding, fleshing, defining and getting out of my own way. To continue: Mind bottles Like what Is my process? but also why can't I imagine more context surrounding my scene/consept. I could be further along as a writer but you know how awful things get. An analogy of, making a crap drawing gulping as you finish. Then on review you see nothing and everything wrong because you put in the work and you managed your best. no more is coming to light now. You find your skill is nothing near the masterpieces you have trouble fathoming. To end the analogy, you visit KZbin for the experienced eye on those masterworks. An answer: try again, make it with experience' in mind this time. "Ploish your prior effort when you find more worth to it. Or flutter along to the next word exchange."

Thank you for watching "Are writing conferences worth it? 🤔 What to know about conferences for writers - cost, schedule, etc!"

I’m reading these for the 3rd time!

Listen, trad publishing is far from perfect. Agents and editors are overworked. Self-publishing and social media are challenging what's worked for publishers in the past. But no, trad publishing is not dead. It's still the best path for a lot of writers like myself while self-publishing is the best path for others.

I like your tenacity. Don't give up! I know someone who self publishes fantasy novels. He had one year where he made $70,000 but usually he makes between $10k and $20k per year with his novels.

My husband is also an engineer and tech guy but we went with WIX so I could update it myself, so I think it is interesting that you did just the opposite. I am also the same as you as far as being an introvert and hating social media. I would like to find an efficient system for doing what I need to do. I have this fantasy that I can use the same content to do all things (e.g. I can break my book into podcasts and also record as video for youtube, make a blog post or newsletter post out of the transcript, Rinse repeat, but I don't see anyone coming right out and saying it can be done like this. I am looking for the easiest way to do all this posting and content creation because the truth is I don't want marketing to take time away from actually writing.

You obviously look at it from the position of a writer, editor or publisher. But at the end, it will be the readers who decide. If it sells, some companies will use AI to create books, and these companies will outperform those who don't. When it comes to stuff like the medical books you mentioned, a human editor will have to look over it to avoid mistakes. In fiction, that may not be even necessary, considering how fast AI developed within a year or two. I can imagine that a company like Amazon will have their own AI to write, for example, thrillers or love stories. It will analyze a reader's preferences and fill the story with elements this particular customer likes to read. And it will be surpisingly good at it even if the reader never directly stated his or her preferences in detail. For me as a reader, it's a dystopian view. I'm no longer exploring what someone else wanted to tell, its just random stuff without a soul.

I felt this video. 35 with 23 books written, no agent in sight. I feel pretty disillusioned with the entire querying process. Daniel Greene just posted a video talking about this very same thing, how the publishing industry is basically being held up by about 50 or so authors (most either Stephen King levels or celebrities). Whether its comics, movies, or books, it seems the storytelling industries as a whole are a house of cards ready to fall. Looks like there is no better time than to consider indie publishing--I know I will be.

Wow. Something actually clicked for me while watching this. I really appreciate how you broke down your process. Thank you. I’ll be rewatching. 🙂

I think you are right. I have been trying to get an agent since the 1980s. During that time I have studied engineering at university (sensible), had a military career then trained and worked as a schoolteacher. Now retired, I came to the conclusion the best thing I could do was improve my writing, and self-publish. It is fun because I am in control. I stopped trying to get an agent. Their loss😇. I suspect agents may try to poach bestselling self-pubbed authors, but... what can they offer them? Not much.

Very nice video. I did branding and managed several social media presences as part of my job for a military R&D lab until I retired about 18 months ago. You hit several of the key areas even though you might not have tied them up with a marketing-industry buzzwords. One that came through all over was how you're striving for authenticity. That's key in social media in particular because who you are comes through over time. When I used to brief generals and other executives, I used the analogy of a pointillist paining. It's a scene a painter creates using collection of individual dots. At the end, you see the whole picture, and have to zoom in to see the dots. Each social media posting or interaction is a dot. The big thing is, the picture of who you are will emerge over time, and unless you're a world-class psychopath or narcissist who can keep up a consistent false front all the time (or have a communications team that can do it for you), being fake will show through. People won't be able to explain what they see wrong or why, but they'll sense something's off. Also, chasing your successes is a good idea. Nobody knows how going viral really works except a small group of people who are natural extroverts, salesmen, have a unique insight into their field, a way with words (or video, or people to help them)...it's a small group and you have to be willing to regularly swim in the cesspool side of social media to keep current. I also think you hit the nail on the head with picking the right social media site(s) for what you're doing (or that you can stand to be on), being purposeful, consistent and authentic there. In the end, it's one pillar of your communications with your intended audience, but the books and other actual writing is the foundation. I've been enjoying retirement and writing a lot, but I'm going to work on a site and get back into one or two social media sites now that retirement -- even with writing -- is getting a little boring.

Nice

SHOW don’t tell.

One way that Facebook truly excels over every other platform: communities. The most successful local indie authors I know have very robust member communities on Facebook where they engage with their fans.

Google sites is free and attractive. Limited. But it works.

Non-fiction is niche, but it is certainly easier to make money going down that route.

I’d love to see a video on the villain as I’m struggling with mine. Thanks, Adele 😊

Hi Megan, I’ve just started my free trial of Scrivener and can definitely see why people love it. I did know of it before but I’ve given it a go after using Plottr to outline my book. Plottr exports your outline straight into a Scrivener project, including all your scenes and related notes. It really is amazing 😊 Thanks, Adele

Hi Megan, I’m planning my very first book and am so glad I came across your channel 😊.

I'll say traditional publishing wasn't dead back in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and mid 2000s back then traditional publishing was the hit. But now it's dying because when you traditional publish it like you're still working for someone else it's rules. Just like with this publishing company I saw. I am a black woman and I am writing a story about Latino's and it was this Latino publishing company I called them and said I would like to publish my book with them. I told them that it was a Latino story and the lady was interested but when I told her I was black she said oh mommy, we only accept books written by Latino writers because as a black woman you know nothing about our Hispanic culture. Now in middle school I went to school with mostly Hispanic people. There was 30% blacks and 80% Hispanics and if you read my stories and screenplays you'll think a Hispanic wrote it because younger Hispanics speak English and Spanish, but the older Hispanics in my story dose not speak English and that's how it is in real life and Latino's kinda eat the same food black people eat beans and rice. So after she told me that I said to myself I think I should start my own book publishing company because I would not tell myself oh I have to be Latino. It's just too many rules. And I also write stories about white people and they wasn't saying I had to be white for them to accept my book they didn't care about that all they cared about if the story was good, but I still will be my own publisher and if I need any help I'll just ask them and I will hire a professional ghostwriter a one that is trustworthy because it's a lot of scams in ghostwriting especially if they charge $3,000 you know those cheap ones. I am going to be my own publisher and be my own film producer because if I keep waiting on someone to say I would like to make your book a movie I will be waiting forever.

This is literally the first planning guide I have seen which made me like my story for quite a long time lol. I have written over 5 stories in a span of 7 months, and at the end of each, I was bored cuz I just planned a lil too far, I didn't hate my stories, I just was bored was it.

I feel your frustration. I've wanted to be a published author since middle school. I have gotten lucky with a few poems and short stories, but publishing novels is a whole different animal. I've queried dozens and dozens of agents, but years later the two novels I've written and paid to be professionally edited are still not winning agents over. The closest I got was when an agent referenced my main character in her rejection. I was so excited, "Oh my God, did she actually look at my pages?!" I'm not giving up but I am getting rather tired of playing this game. I might move to self-publish in a few years if this keeps up...

I have found the best way to grow on Instagram is by commenting on other threads. I rarely gain followers by posting. In fact I went a whole 3 weeks without posting but was commenting on a lot of other posts and gained the most amount of followers. I am selective. I comment on accounts that are smaller - like under 5K - sometimes even smaller ones like in the 100-500. Anything bigger, and chances are my comment will get lost and that influencer won't bother following me back. Engagement has been key for me! I haven't gone viral by any means but I consistently get at least one follower per week. I remove followers that look spammy or that their page is way off what find appropriate. That way I know that my followers are "true' followers. If someone comments on my post, I always make sure to respond back. You also have to follow more accounts. If you are only following very few accounts - you won't grow as much. Because sometimes followers of other page will check out who that person is following and then follow them and so on. You can still be authentic and only follow those that fit 'your brand'. I am also not a professional photographer so my content is very candid and sometimes even awkward especially reels LOL.

I have to agree that expecting authors to have a large social media platform is a disservice to readers. It turns writing into a popularity contest. When in reality, it's about new ideas and narratives. That said, I agree that writers are their own unique brand, and in general, no one cares what font you use on your blog. I like paring the fonts "feeling passionate" and "glacial indifference", mostly because their names are polar opposites.

Thanks for watching "Author branding: How I'm building a presence with my website & social media (a work in progress!)" Drop me a comment!

Erm well someone needs to speak to my bookcase most of my favourite books are from the YA section which i read back then and still love to read today. S.e Hinton amazing writer (some books are banned from school libraries in some countrys) Robert Westall fantastic writer he wrote a lot of fiction surrounding WW2 and ghost stories. Pete Johnson- fantastic Charles alverson- amazing And many many more! All books should be enjoyed by all i will keep hold of these until i leave this earth as my memory starts to disappear i know i will always have a book to read. 😊

my favorite book series EVER Rangers Apprentice is a literal "kids" book. theres war, death, graphic violence--just no romantic stuff above like a chaste kiss or hand holding. and its an amazing book series and deserves more attention.

I, at 29, just read the latest addition of Skullduggery Pleasant by fellow Irish man Derkey Landy, a series which first started when I was 12, amd will sing its praises for years to come

I prefer a lot of YA and children's literature because adult books often have excessive sex in them. I want story, not shock value!

because there's a million classics that will actually challenge you intellectually and broaden your vocabulary. Reading kids books is fun but it's the equivlent of using half pound weights to work out

I remember someone in my mommy group commenting when I was reading the Hunger Games books. We were all first time moms and finding things for ourselves was a new challenge. As a dyslexic with ADHD “reading for pleasure” has always been a challenge, unless it was an encyclopedia ( informational text is my preferred 🤓). The comment made that little kid in me feel shame again, now that I was reading it still wasn’t “good enough.” 😮‍💨 I stuck with it because I needed to break past that feeling for my new little one. The books are for everyone. 🤗

Yesssss ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

My all time favorite books over the years are mostly YA, because the plots have more fantastical themes into it which is my favorite genre, don't care if it's not aimed for more "mature" folk, it's still carrying you far away to amazing worlds!

If they’re abt teenagers having sex, which many are, then yeah. I don’t think adults should write them or read them

I like reading young adult books because most of them have more imagination but I read other subjects as well.

I’m 27 and love YA books. I do feel hesitant to read middle grade though but I know a lot of adults read it so maybe I should try one.

Accurate! It's the same with children's picture books. 🙌💗

But isn't Grammarly AI?

It does seem like traditional publishing is not the best path anymore. Authors now have to become content creators. Building a platform then pitching your self-published book is the best bet. But building a platform is its own thing. People can make videos for years with no audience. And I don't think the world needs to see most writers making tik toks. So instead of not getting seen by agents. We don't get seen by subscribers. It just keeps getting further away from writing.

Girly tricked me

I am a writer. I'm looking for a business partner. Unfortunately, I live in the Republic of Belarus. Belarusians refused to publish my book “Life without problems.” I have one book in English, “Cosmic Laws and World Domination.” Maybe you will agree to become my co-author and publish this book in England.

But I don't think so,It is good for teenagers

I'm both a plotter and panser. I have a 5 act outline,written in 3rd person omnipotent with over 30 developed characters,I got a good overall thought out story, although I feel overwhelmed being my first book and attempting to follow the formula of rules for writing.i got tons of great ideas I don't kno how to articulate 😂🎉

Hi, dear Megan. I want to do my Bachelor's level research on this novel, but I don't know from what perspective I should approach it or what topic I should choose for my research. Could you please help me?

All great tips, Megan. Do you ever use brain dumping when you have writer's block? Taking a short break outside works best for me.

Thank you for watching "How I overcome writer's block: 5 tips ✍🏻 \\ Writing tips for authors and novelists!"