Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

So - we made it to the end of the year.  I hope last year was all that you wanted - and needed - from your present life. We often think that the new year is a time to recycle all those old resolutions.  I think this can be a mistake.  Because we then send a message to our brains that goals and ambitions are to be confined to January - and forgotten when the year gets under way! The time to make resolutions is every day.  Just five minutes in the morning - say at nine o clock - spent making a short list of the things that are important to you - bearing in mind the long term, as well as the short, will pay huge dividends when it comes to reviewing your progress towards your dream life. Year's end is really only a time to ask: Am I living my dream life?  And if not, what can I do to make that happen by the end of next year? Usually any kind of success these days implies self promotion... Writers are often expected to self-promote, either thr...

Let me make a prediction. By 2015, based on current trends, 50% of the books available online and even offline, will be self published. How will this happen? Simple. Print on Demand technology has already progressed to the stage that even the big traditional publishers are using it - which means, yes, now we're all equal. Plus, distribution networks are now seeing that there is money to be made stocking and distributing self published books - as long as the writers are diligently involved in their promotion. Book marketing is now no longer the sole responsibility of a publisher's sales staff. More and more trade publishers are requiring, even demanding, that authors self promote their books. So, whichever way you go, you will have to get out there and sell your books yourself. But what does self promotion actually involve? Are there any special skills you need? Yes, but don't fret - you're a writer. Much of what you need to do is already within your skill base. Here are...

The joy of being a writer is that you can spend a lot of time at home, safe in your own little world, trying to create something meaningful and communicate through the best way possible, that is: through words on a page. Many writers choose this career because either a) they're shy or b) they prefer their own company anyway or c) the world seems a crazy mixed up place that doesn't need much of their involvement. I've spent time in the past with large groups of people who deperately need each other's company - and often - to even begin to function. I've known unfortunate souls that cry unceasingly when they have no friends to call on, or live in torment until they can chat with another. It's called being gregarious, apparently. Thankfully, like most writers, I'm not so afflicted. I've always liked my own company - even when I craved fame in my twenties. I used to forsake the local bars in preference to my guitar or my notebook. Many creative people are li...