Used in discussing market copy and branding in Discovering Your Author Brand by M.A. Lee
Brand your Books with Classic Tropes
Celebrate *Discovering Your Author Brand*
Brands identify quality work with artistic effort. They serve as a stamp of approval for the customer.
It’s the anniversary of Discovering Your Author Brand, the guidebook for developing writing brands for yourself as writer, for your book, and for your series.
Here’s something not sexy. Brands for writing is a contract with the reader.
Here’s two more.
- Brands identify quality work with artistic effort.
- They serve as a stamp of approval for the customer.
Yeah, yeah. You’ve heard that before.
Look around, and you’ll spot lots of flash-bang presentations on creating author brands. As more writers become self-published and traditional writers try to increase their marketing, the Author Brand is a hot topic.
Everyone talks about it. Few people can explain how to do it or give instructions to follow.
Well, gee, here’s another book, too.
How is Discovering Your Author Brand different from the other books in the marketplace?
1st ~ It’s packed with examples based on highly successful writers.
Face it, in today’s marketplace, our competition is our peers and every other writer who has come before us. Agatha Christie is still selling. Ray Bradbury is selling. Arthur Conan Doyle sells. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot was made into a Will Smith movie over two decades after Asimov died.
These writers aren’t on the best-seller lists; only new books earn places on those lists. But Christie and Bradbury and Doyle and many, many more writers are competition for everyone else entering the marketplace. And they have the cachet of quality that new and recent writers struggle to achieve.
So, we’ll look at successful brands and analyze the secrets of their success.
2nd ~ Discovering Your Author Brand understands that the browsing readers will only give a few nanoseconds to our books.
So, we explain the three main glances that hook the readers before they swim down the river. We also look at the keys to unlock those glances. With the right keys, the brand is revealed, and the door to the reader opens.
To help with the keys and glances, we have worksheets (charts!) to help you discover the brand for book, series, and your author persona—because the first leads to the last.
3rd ~ We have something the other books don’t have, another way to catch the attention of that swimming reader. Video trailers!
Advertising claims that consumers have to see something seven times—7!—before they’ll buy. Static ads and promo posts are all well and good, but we writers need an extra oomph to get that seventh look. Enter the video trailer.
Have you ever wanted to set up a video trailer or a brief clip, currently big on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram? Have you hesitated because you don’t know where to start?
We have an easily adaptable script as well as guidance on settling the debate between music and narration. (We pick music!)
Discovering Your Author Brand is packed with explanations and examples.
Book 7 in the Discovering set, the manual is designed for new writers on the journey to becoming totally professional.
Purchase at Amazon or purchase at other online distributors
View the trailer at this link: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
. ~ . ~ . ~ .
Writer M.A. Lee has been self-publishing fiction and non-fiction since 2015. She has over 50 books published under her three pen names.
Discovering Characters
Discovering Characters Guideline: One of the hardest things to do in writing
is to create characters that readers will care about,
that will make them have to read on.
Noah Luke
Discovering Characters is like investigating a house we want to buy.
No, I’m serious. Characters have an exterior façade that we comment upon as we drive past. Through the windows we catch glimpses of interior lives.
How are Characters like Houses?
Even in cookie-cutter boxy cliques, characters have individual characteristics, just as the suburbia ranch houses have their garden plantings and the urban row houses have their painted doorways. These small touches create individual homes in neighborhoods.
Some characters enjoy the bright city lights. Some are loners, nestled against a national forest. Characters, houses—each have individual personalities. Some are blingie, with the latest décor while others enjoy the comfort of yoga pants and old sneakers.
As writers, we capture these individual characters and save them from the cookie-cutter boxy stereotypes. We delve into interior rooms for glimpses of formative baggage. Finding their backstory is a search through attics and cellars, storage closets and garages. Characters hide their pain and fears, painting them over and adding distracting artwork.
How do we Individualize our Characters?
Our job as writers is to find every detail of our characters then use snippets so our readers will see our characters as they drive through our books. We hint at the foundations while opening doors to their plans and purposes.
Discovering Characters is designed to help writers find the exteriors and interiors, public and private. We’ll dig around the foundations and climb to the roof. We’ll explore the open rooms and the storage closets. And we’ll peek into rooms inhabited by such characters as diverse as Elizabeth and Darcy, the Iron Man, Aragorn and Frodo, Travis McGee, Medea, Macbeth, and Nanny McPhee.
Five areas comprise this guidebook.
Just as characters—and houses—are individual, this info is individual. You won’t need every bit. Dip in and out, skim around. When you reach locked rooms, come back and explore to discover the keys to your characters.
- Starting Points ~ offering templates and character interviews
- Classifications ~ common and uncommon ways of discovering characters
- Relationships ~ couples, teams, allies, enemies, mentors, etc.
- Special Touches ~ progressions, transgressions, and transitions for character arcs
- Significant Lists ~ archetypal characters and much more
Discovering Characters, with 44,000-plus words, is the second book in the Discovering set, part of the Think like a Pro Writer series for writers new to the game as well as those wanting to up their game.
Worldwide Distribution: Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and more: https://books2read.com/u/3RJrZB
Defeat Writer’s Block
Don’t fear the great *unmentioned unmentionable* for writers. 
Let’s DEFEAT WRITER’S BLOCK.
How do we defeat Writer’s Block?
- Strategies to tackle that monster.
- Advice from other 15 best-selling writers.
- Detailed explanations to start doing now!
This book comes direct from The Write Focus podcast and its host M.A. Lee.
Suffering every writer’s serious malady of writer’s block?
We may say the mantra “Writer’s Block doesn’t exist”, but something more than simple disruptions and distractions can interfere with our writing, creating insurmountable walls.
The Write Focus analyzes the three most common types and offers solutions to Overcome and Defeat this monster looming over the writer’s desk.
The best solution, though, is Leo Tolstoy’s mantra: No days without lines :: Nulla dies sine linea. Make that your own mantra.
Published August 8.
Ebook from Worldwide Distributors like Kobo, B&N, and more: Find it here.
Ebook and Paperback from amazing Amazon: Also on preorder, available on the 8th.
Audiobook also available (although some distributors may not have the book available for 30 days from publication. Ah well.).
Available Now: Storytel / https://www.storytel.com/se/sv/books/defeat-writers-block-think-like-a-pro-writer-6-8875896
and Libro / https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798988473985
Coming Soon to Apple, Audible, Chirp, Kobo, and more!
Chapters
- Introduction
- Overcoming Type 1: Refusal, easy to defeat
- Overcoming Type 2: Procrastination, difficult
- Overcoming Type 3: Inertia, the worst
- Pro Writers’ Advice, part A ~ 5 best-selling writers speak on writer’s block and how they defeated it
- Pro Writers’ Advice, part B ~ 6 best-sellers talk about writer’s block and strategies
- How One Pro Writer Defeated the Monster ~ Erle Stanley Gardner and his strategies
- More Techniques from Erle Stanley Gardner
- Avoid These Mistakes, part A ~ offered by Judy Delton
- Avoid These Mistakes, part B ~ more to avoid from J. Delton
- Mary Stewart on Writing Flow ~ shared by her in her novel The Stormy Petrel
- Storyteller and Story Teacher ~ Kate Wilhelm’s remembrances on writing barriers
- Burnham Talks Block ~ Sophie Burnham devotes a chapter to writer’s block in her book On Writing
- Whitney’s Solutions ~ America’s first great writer of romantic suspense, Phyllis A. Whitney shares many techniques in her book Guide to Fiction Writing
The book comes from the series of the same name on the podcast The Write Focus, hosted by M.A. Lee with the assistance of Edie Roones and Remi Black. The podcast is a presentation of Writers’ Ink Books.
A Messy Miscellany For Writers
A Messy Miscellany for Writers is Crowded with Information.
A Messy Miscellany covers a broad range of topics on …
- craft and process,
- productivity and tools,
- writing crimes to avoid,
- the how-can’s and why-should’s of writing guidance,
and much, much more.
These miscellany chapters first appeared on The Write Focus podcast; that’s another reason for the word messy.
Miscellany: separate writings on varied subjects collected in one volume.
What makes this miscellany of writer guidance so messy?
- A scattering into the many areas of writing, original sketch to final draft, revision to publication
- Writing professionally, both process and attitude
- Ways to maintain productivity and keep the writing fresh
- Tools that writers find helpful
- References to help writers grow
- Writing as a long-term career
- Necessity of promotions and marketing
Five of the chapters come from episodes in the podcast’s first year, another five from the second year, and four others began the third year.
Chapters in Messy Miscellany
Beginning to Write
01: Resolve to Be a Writer ~ Once writing becomes not only a resolution but also a devotion, what steps do we take to achieve our devotion?
02: 7 Newbie Mistakes ~ Every successful writer begins with failures. The trick is to rise above the mistakes. That takes awareness as well as solutions to overcome them.
03: 3 Notta Mistakes ~ These could easily have turned into failures. I lucked into avoiding them. Here’s the reason they’re mistakes and how we can avoid them.
04: Write the Book, part 1 ~ Every writer needs a process to achieve that first goal, a finished manuscript. Here’s guidance for the initial steps, the flailing of the middle, and how to reach the last word of our goal. (For more detailed information, please consult 12: Revision Is a Process.)
05: Write that Book, part 2 ~ What’s needed after we type the last word of our manuscript? We have three more steps to complete and plan before we send our newly finished book into the reading world. (For more detailed information, please consult 13: Edit & Correct and 14: Publish & Promo.)
General Knowledge for All Writers
06: Horror Stories for Writers ~ We’ve all heard the list of no-no’s that writers shouldn’t do. In avoiding these, we sometimes tumble into five other horrors. Here’s guidance on avoiding these career-killers and how to fix them if we stumble into their mucky mire.
07: Gifts for Writers ~ No, not sticky notes or nacky pens. The best gifts for writers touch the heart, inspire the soul, and motivate the brain. We suggest opportunities that bring beaming smiles to writers’ faces.
08: Four Recommended Books for Writers ~ These improve our writing world. Keep them as ready reference all through our writing careers.
09: Three Essential Tools for Writers ~ These don’t include writing software. Not only are these tools, but they’re also essential habits. They create long-term success and prevent stress.
10: Three Films that Writers Need to Study ~ We deal in words. Why am I recommending films? Well, films begin as words, and they’re a quicker study than novels. I present how to choose films to study then launch into my recommended three chosen for their writing craft skills and the reason those skills are important.
11: Five Writing Crimes to Avoid ~ While these aren’t potential career-killers like the five horrors, they can slow our journey to success. These are crimes we’ve all heard to avoid as well as solutions to fix them—and not once do we include the classic “Show, not tell”.
With a Finished Manuscript ~
12: Revision Is a Process ~ So many people tout revision as a key to improve a manuscript draft. Few tell us how. Revision needs a critical brain and these four major steps.
13: Edit & Correct ~ These two harsh words are often confused with revision. They’re not revision, yet they’re just as critical. Even writers unsure of grammar and punctuation as well as MS style have necessary work before sending the book into the next stage.
14: Publish & Promo ~ We’ve reached the final stage. What do we need in place before we publish? How do we plan for our promotional marketing, in amount and cost?
Work through these 14 topics of A Messy Miscellany for Writers, and be well prepared when you declare yourself “a published writer pursuing long-term success”.
~ ~ ~
A longtime tinkerer with words, M.A. Lee published her first novels in 2015 and continues to write and explore the world of writing. As of this date, under her three pen names, she has over 50 titles.
A Messy Miscellany for Writers is her ninth non-fiction book. She also has three planners for writers, each with a different focus: for newbies, for writing projects, and for a word-count tracking throughout a year.
Since 2020, she has hosted The Write Focus podcast, which offers ideas for fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. The heart of the podcast is productivity, process, craft, and tools. The summer series includes interviews with other writers.
Find yours here:
https://books2read.com/u/38ezzB (ebook)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6Y5GWG2 (ebook)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B713BXGS (paperback)
The various topics are scattered through the first three seasons of The Write Focus.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
Listen on your favorite podcast site: from Apple to YouTube, Spotify and Podbean (my favs), Google Play, Amazon Music and Audible, Samsung and Player FM, Deezer and Podcaster, the rivals iHeart and Tune-in, and too many to list.
Here are the 4 easiest:
My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/
YouTube direct link to the Mixed Miscellany playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na5LXb-83iM&list=PLXi3M_aM-d7ISCaEcoK4JV5wSUkGCmx_Z
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d
3 Planners for Writers
Why do Writers Need Planners?
I’m not just promoting 3 Planners here. I have a reason for creating each one.
The #1 guarantee of continual writing success is tracking your progress, with all the successes recorded. We writers have a tendency to focus on our current problems and set-backs.
While every publication is a major success, the daily grind often has us thinking we’re back-pedaling rather than advancing. Tracking our minor successes and checking off our benchmark goals provides us with the incentives we need to keep working.
The Basic Planner: a Word-Count Focus
What helps writers achieve those two goals? For speed, we need to concentrate our mental energies on writing daily. For the long haul, we need to know our projects, current and next and future. When we focus on speed and longevity, we write more than we ever have before.
Word Trekker accomplishes these goals by advance planning for our projects and tracking our words daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly.
Any hikers out there? This planner is for you. Match those words to the step-count for the Triple Crown of Hiking.
- Pacific Crest Trial > 2,650 miles
- Continental Divide Trail > 3,100 miles
- Appalachian Trial > 2,193
- AT international extension into Canada 1,319 >> 2, 193 with 1,319 = 3,512
One hiking mile = 100 words. As hikers venture along each trail, they trek from state to state. Setting the Triple Crown of Hiking as a writing goal keeps us going through the year.
Much less than $1 a month, this 6 x 9 planner helps you work toward One Million Words in a Year. Click the link to discover more.
Think in Projects Rather than Words?
Plan those writing goals. Nest the projects; hatch as you achieve them. Celebrate victories; analyze challenges. Soar with Success with the Writing Nest.
Long-term goals are easy to set. Breaking the long-term goals into short-term goals helps us slog through the slow times. Those slow slogs can lead us to think we’re not achieving, yet a simple record will keep us motivated to continue on.
Where can we keep that record of achievements, short-term and long-term? A daily system that builds to mid-term benchmarks and seasonal achievements. That system should help us not only record our achievements but also set our long-term and short-term goals.
Sized 8 x 10, this undated planner (priced for $1 a month) lets us start anytime, taking breaks between projects or powering through the year. Click for more info.
The Planner for Newbies
Want to make writing a commitment rather than a hobby? Striving for professional publication rather than wannabe status? The Think/Pro planner helps make the conversion from newbie to writing pro.
$1 a month, this undated planner tracks word counts and healthy habits, offers creativity tips and tax tips, offers progress meters for projects and a weekly inspirational quote from a major writer.
In addition to the weekly spread with a Top 3 Task List are Monthly Reviews & Previews and Seasonal & Yearly Planning pages.
The Monthly Review has a Productivity Tracker and a Progress Meter as well as places to jot down Business Contacts and Expenses. Seasonal Previews ask you to polish the nuts and bolts of your projected words per week and sharpen up the time remaining before your deadline. At the end of every month, the planner offers a record for victories as well as upcoming challenges.
Time to change “Seize the Day” into “Seize the Dream.” For success, we need to Think/Pro. This 8 x 10 planner will help.
Celebrate a Book Birthday!
On this day in 2017, M.A. Lee published Old Geeky Greeks, third in the Think like a Pro Writer series.
We published with one cover. At the end of 2019, as part of the year-long updates to the entire Think like a Pro Writer series, our cover designers Deranged Doctor Design came up with this wonderful cover.
Here’s information for this book. Click the link to Amazon to purchase.
What do these have in common?
Atonement. I, Robot. The 13th Warrior. The Hobbit. Jurassic Park, in all its iterations.
Harry Potter. Ironman. Perseus. Dudley Dooright. Macbeth.
5 Stages of the Hero and the Monster. Blood tragedies. The scariest woman in all literature. Hubris.
These oddly-matched items all have origins in the ancient Greeks and Romans.
The first storytellers discovered many ways to intrigue and thrill their audiences. They laid strong foundations for what worked and what didn’t work. Their techniques are still used, re-packaged as exclusive insights, glittery infographics, three-point seminars, and Wham-Pow webinars urging modern writers to Buy Now!
Old Geeky Greeks: Write Stories with Ancient Techniques presents these techniques in a clear, organized method for writers.
Chapters in OGG cover understanding characters, plot requirements and the oldest plot formula (the Blood or Revenge Tragedy), and such concepts as in medias res and dulce et utile and more, all to solve the sticky problem of audience expectations.
The bright minds of Classical Antiquity first explored that problem, and the answers that they developed are applicable in this age of the internet, special effects, and infographics.
Save yourself the hours spent at seminars and in webinars or scanning social media. Spend that time writing—and study the Old Geeky Greeks at your leisure. Whether writing novels or plays, blogs or non-fiction, poems and songs, this guidebook offers information to improve your writing.
Old Geeky Greeks is a seminar in book form, 28,000 words of time-proven techniques.
Writer M.A. Lee has published 25-plus titles under various pen names since she began self-publishing in 2015. She has over 30 years of experience in guiding college and high school students as they examined, analyzed, and applied these techniques.