Today I want to share three things that no one tells you about becoming a published author. I published three novels over the last few years, which I'm not going to lie, was truly a dream come true.

Sometimes people ask me what it’s like to see your book on shelves when you didn't even bribe someone to put them there or sneak it in yourself? And it's awesome. I mean, it feels mostly amazing, but there are a few surprises you may not expect. I sure didn't. And I'm going to share those with you in this post.

So you’ve heard that you need a literary agent to sell your book to a publisher. Cool. And you know you’re supposed to go out and find one. Cool again.

But are some literary agents bad? How do you know if an agent is…a creep? Or a fraud? Or a shyster? Today, I’m going to tell you three things to look out for when you’re approaching literary agents, so you don’t find yourself in an unfortunate situation.  

I get this question all the time from people who want to write and publish books, and it’s a fair question. The problem is that the publishing industry is often extremely opaque when it comes to money, and the amount of money you can make varies tremendously: are you writing a novel or memoir? Are you a first-time author? What genre is your book?

But good news: I’ve got the data! Yep, I’ve got numbers. Today, I’m going to break down how much you can make as a writer so you know what to expect. Let’s go.

If you’re thinking about getting an MFA in Creative Writing, I understand the temptation. I struggled with this decision for years. Ultimately, I didn’t decide to get one.

It worked out, because I found an agent and saw my novels published without one. Today, I’m going to share with you why I didn’t end up going to get my MFA.  

You know by now that you need a literary agent to sell your book to most publishers, at least the big ones. If you’ve checked out some of my other posts, you may even know the steps to get one.

But how do you know when you’re ready for a literary agent? Today, I’m going to share with you four must-dos before you’re ready for a literary agent. Let’s go.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably wondered if publishing a book could boost your business. I’ve been in a number of business groups since I launched my own business a few years ago, and I’ve learned a lot from these groups and from my fellow entrepreneurs.

But there’s one trap I’ve noticed a number of entrepreneurs falling into that I think keeps them from understanding how powerful a book could be for them. Today I’m going to talk about that trap, and how writing a book can be a great marketing move. Let’s go! 

What makes a novel count as “literary fiction?” Is it more impressive than commercial fiction? And what’s the difference?

Today, I’m going to give you my highly opinionated and polarizing take on this question as a novelist, reader, and human being. Stick around and read till the end if you want to either yell “amen!” at me or throw something at your computer screen. Ready?

Before I was a published author, I felt like I was always on the Internet googling things about writing. How many words should my novel be? What contests could I enter? What classes should I take? What was the best writing software? What about the best place to find an agent? My questions were endless.

There are so many sites out there offering advice and services to writers—today, I want to share with you my 7 favorite websites for writers and aspiring authors and why I love them so much. Let’s go! 

Today I'm going to be sharing with you the complete guide to getting published; to getting your first draft pitch ready.

You have a book idea and you're ready to write, or maybe you're even well on your way to getting it done. But how do you actually get published? Because writing is one thing and getting published is another.

In this post I'm going to share seven must knows for getting that book that you're writing or that you've written on shelves.