Biz

Randy Rooney

Multitaxing

“Whatcha doin’?” a familiar voice behind me said.

I spun around in my chair, wondering why my plumber, Sam, was here again. Hadn’t he bled my bank account dry yet?

Sam stood there grinning, holding a big box of plumbing parts. “Just thought I’d check in on my favorite bigshot author while I was here to swap in these parts for that walk-in tub in yer new guest house. So, whatcha doing?”

Word For Words

Is This for Real? A Study in Verisimilitude

Sometimes you wonder whether a novel or short story is fiction or whether it really happened. That’s success—when you don’t see the brush strokes, just the portrait, scene, or landscape. This end result often happens through verisimilitude.

Screenwriting 101

Creating the Hero: A Look at Avatar

The most successful stories are those whose main characters become the hero by the climax of the film. The hero walks through a path of change and growth that the audience follows. The process itself creates a bond between the character and the audience, which develops into emotional support through the second act and emerges with...

POD and Self-Publishing

Come on, Baby, Do the Promotion (and the Locomotion)

Now that you’ve finished authoring the great American novel, what are you going to do next? Going to Disneyland on your royalties? Sorry to pop your bubble, but your profits probably won’t even pay for the ticket to get into see Mickey and friends.

Bookclubs

Who Picks The Books?

Does it really matter how or who picks the books to be read by your book club? In my experience it does. The right book can bring your group together in unexpected ways; the wrong book can have them sending you hate e-mails, not showing up for the monthly meeting or ever again.